Alexithymia
by IloveHarryPotter17
Summary: "So what do we do? Tell her she's got a boyfriend we made her forget? And then what? Bonnie's the one who did the spell, so she has to undo it if it's even possible. Oh…and there's the whole 'we promised the Originals we wouldn't tell her' thing. How do you think they'll take it if Caroline shows up looking for him? We're as good as dead," Damon reminded them.
1. An Emptiness

**Rating**: T

**Summary**: Caroline and Klaus were fantastic together, however their friends and family didn't agree and disliked how close they were. The Original Family and the Mystic Falls gang teamed up to erase Caroline's memory of Klaus, but not before they staged a fight, convincing Klaus that they were under attack and Caroline died. Now, Caroline and Klaus are back where their friends and family think they belong but their hearts aren't.

**Timeline**: Set in the future

**Disclaimer**: _The Vampire Diaries _isn't mine

**A/N**: Title is from _Alexithymia _by Anberlin, the song is where I originally got the inspiration for this story. And, huge thanks to my beta lilins!

* * *

_November, 2018_

_Nashville, Tennessee_

"Caroline?" Elena said as she opened the door to Caroline's bedroom.

Caroline was still lying in bed, her curtains drawn shut and the covers pulled tight around her body. It didn't look like she had moved since yesterday morning when Elena tried to convince her to go. "Caroline, please won't you come with me today?"

Caroline shook her head, "No…I just…I don't want to go."

"Please Caroline? We can stop by Starbucks on our way to class and get some caramel frappucinos?" Elena offered, trying to bribe her friend with some sugar and coffee.

"No. Go ahead without me," Caroline turned onto her side so her back was facing Elena. "I don't know why you even signed me up for classes again. I hate them."

Elena ran her fingers through her hair nervously, "You used to like them…"

After a moment Caroline said softly, "I did….but I don't anymore."

"Okay," Elena sighed, accepting defeat. She backed out of Caroline's room and closed the door behind her. She stopped into her room and grabbed her backpack before heading down to the kitchen where Stefan was reading a book for his Brit lit class and Damon was emptying a flask into his mug of coffee.

"Where's Caroline?" Stefan asked looking up from his copy of _A Handful of Dust_.

Elena shook her head, "She's not coming."

"Again?"

"I don't know what to do. She's been to class like six times this entire semester. I think we need to tell them she's dropping out."

Damon rolled his eyes, "Don't tell me you think she's heartbroken. She just needs a new guy then she won't even remember to be so depressed. You know what? I'll find her a guy. Any guy would be better than that asshole-"

"-SHHHH" Elena and Stefan both cut him off.

_She can still hear you_ Elena mouthed.

Stefan tilted his head towards the door and they all sped to what had become their unofficial spot to discuss all things Caroline. It was a few blocks away from their house so Caroline couldn't overhear them, but it was also next to a park so they didn't attract too much attention just standing around outside.

"What are we going to do? It's been a year and she's still like this…I think somehow she knows what we did."

"What?" Damon interrupted. "Of course she doesn't. She's just in a funk because she's back on Stefan's bunny diet. It's enough to make anyone depressed."

"No," Stefan shook his head, "I agree with Elena. Care shouldn't be like this. Part of her has to know…"

"So what do we do? Tell her she's got a boyfriend we made her forget? And then what? Bonnie's the one who did the spell, so she has to undo it if it's even possible. Oh…and there's the whole 'we promised the Originals we wouldn't tell her' thing. How do you think they'll take it if Caroline shows up looking for him? We're as good as dead," Damon reminded them. "I doubt even Klaus would hesitate to kill you if he knew what we did," he continued as he looked at Elena.

Neither Stefan nor Elena said anything. They couldn't argue with Damon's logic this time.

"I guess we can wait a little longer and try and snap her out of it?" Elena suggested softly.

"Sounds good," Damon nodded and started for the house. Elena glanced at Stefan then followed after Damon.

* * *

_November, 2018_

_Brussels, Belgium_

Rebekah walked through the door of the apartment building, her purchases swinging on her arms and sped up the steps to the top floor. As soon as she opened the door to the stairwell she could smell it: _blood_.

Rebekah crossed the small hallway to the door of the apartment she shared with Klaus, the trepidation building in her stomach. As soon as she opened the door, the smell of blood was overpowering. She quickly stepped inside and let her bags drop to the floor. She could tell by the smell that some of the blood was old, hours old, but some of it was new, fresh from the vein. She struggled to keep her fangs from showing as she walked further into their apartment.

It wasn't hard to follow the scent of the blood, it was overwhelming as it led her to Nik's bedroom. _Of course_. She opened his door to find Niklaus sitting on the floor, his hands stained red with rivers of dried blood caked upon his mouth and neck. There was a girl's body sprawled across his lap that he kept checking the pulse of but Rebekah was sure she was dead. As she glanced around the rest of the room she noticed one, two...four other bodies strewn across the room each with their throats torn open. Blood was splattered everywhere: on the carpeting, the ceiling, the walls, the new bedspread she had purchased for him two months ago when they had moved in.

"Nik..." Rebekah said cautiously as she walked into the room.

"Have you come to join me dear sister?" Niklaus looked up at her from his place on the floor. "Are you thirsty? We can always go get another. They are so easy..." Nik's sentence drifted off as he dropped the girl's wrist and shifted her body off of his lap and onto the floor.

"No, no," Rebekah shook her head. "I'm not thirsty," she replied quickly and Klaus stopped in his attempt at getting up from the floor. "What did you do, Nik?" Rebekah couldn't help but stare at the carnage around his room.

Klaus looked down at the girl who he had moved to the floor. He picked up a piece of her blood-soaked hair and twirled it between his own red fingers, "I was bored."

"This is going to be a nightmare to clean up," Rebekah told him as she started walking out of his room. "Next time you're bored, I suggest you take up painting again," and with that Rebekah sped out of the room, not waiting to see Klaus' fury.

When she was halfway down the hall she heard the sound of something being flung against the wall and cracking. She flinched, knowing it was the girl's body.

Rebekah took out her cell phone and typed out a text to Elijah: _Tomorrow night, 6 pm. The Comme Chez Soi. Don't tell Nik._

* * *

**A/N**: Thank you for reading! Please leave me review letting me know if you loved it/hated it/felt indifferent/however!_  
_

-SB


	2. A Discovery

**Rating**: T

**Summary**: Caroline and Klaus were fantastic together, however their friends and family didn't agree and disliked how close they were. The Original Family and the Mystic Falls gang teamed up to erase Caroline's memory of Klaus, but not before they staged a fight, convincing Klaus that they were under attack and Caroline died. Now, Caroline and Klaus are back where their friends and family think they belong but their hearts aren't.

**Timeline**: Set in the future

**Disclaimer**: _The Vampire Diaries _isn't mine.

**A/N**: Thank you for all the reviews, favorites, and follows. They seriously make me ridiculously happy to know that people are enjoying this story. And of course, huge thanks to my beta lilins, without her there would be two different tenses and a lot of confused readers

* * *

_November, 2018_

_Brussels, Belgium_

Rebekah walked into _Comme Chez Soi, _at twenty to six. She couldn't stand being in the apartment with Klaus any longer and decided to wait for Elijah there. The hostess tried to seat her near the large windows at the front of the restaurant, but Rebekah quickly compelled the girl to give her an empty booth near the back so they would have some privacy.

Rebekah slipped into the booth and ordered a glass of wine which the waiter quickly brought her as she played with her phone and stared at the couples eating dinner together to pass the time.

Suddenly, Elijah appeared at the end of the table. "Finally," Rebekah sighed. "I've been waiting forever."

"You said six o'clock, and it is exactly six. You were early," Elijah replied as he sat down across from her.

The waiter reappeared and Elijah dismissed him, telling him not to come back for the rest of their time; he didn't feel like bothering with the pretense of food or drinks for this meeting.

"Now, what has Niklaus been up to?" Elijah inquired.

"It's terrible, 'lijah. I've never seen him like this. Yesterday afternoon I came home and there were five bodies in his room. **Five**. He had to have gotten them in broad daylight too because they weren't there when I left. He had one…he was just _sitting_ in her blood with her insides everywhere and it was...it was _terrible_."

"This isn't the first time that Niklaus has done something brash and I'm sure it will not be the last. But you have disposed of the bodies?"

"Of course," Rebekah snapped. "I've been cleaning up his messes for the past 900 years."

"You're the one who volunteered to watch him, Rebekah," Elijah reminded her.

"I know," Rebekah sighed. "But you don't seem to understand, it's gotten much worse. We had to leave Vienna because everyone was staying indoors at night, afraid of the _murderer_ plaguing the city. In Iran he wiped out an entire village. I had to compel all the officials into thinking there was a deadly outbreak. The same thing happened twice when we were in Libya. In Dusseldorf we were out to dinner, and something set him off, I'm not sure what, but he murdered everyone in the restaurant. Do you know how many people I had to compel to clean that up?" Rebekah asked. "Plus I had to burn down the restaurant itself. It was a mess, unsalvageable with all the blood," she shook her head at the memory. "And that's not even the vampires he seeks out just to kill or the humans he brings home. He's going to get us into trouble, Elijah."

"With who? We are The Originals we punish _others_, they do not punish us," Elijah declared.

"Who's trying to punish us?" a familiar voice asked.

Elijah and Rebekah turned to see Kol striding towards them, a grin on his face.

"No one is," Elijah informed him cooly.

"Nik is getting sloppy," Rebekah told him.

"Ohhh, not Saint Nik!" Kol chuckled as he sat down next to Rebekah, making her move over to accommodate him.

Rebekah made a face at his outburst. "Why are you here Kol?"

"Because I missed my baby sister," he said with a wink, "and I wanted to be sure you got all that blood out of your lovely apartment."

"You're taking clean-up tips from Kol now?" Elijah asked incredulously.

"At least he cares enough to reply to me," Rebekah replied, raising her eyebrows.

Elijah shook his head. "I do care Rebekah, but I don't know what is to be done. Niklaus has always done as he pleases."

"That's just it," Rebekah cut in, "he's not doing it for fun. He's doing it because he's in pain...he misses Caroline."

"I miss Caroline too. _Parts_ of her, to be more specific-"

"-Kol" Elijah growled.

"Can't we tell him?" Rebekah suggested softly.

"Nik would dagger us all. Forever." Kol replied.

"He would be furious. Plus we made a deal with the Salvatores and the Bennet witch. If we cannot keep our word, it will get out in the supernatural world and there will be no order. Do you understand, Rebekah?"

"Yes," Rebekah huffed. "But if you two don't want to tell him you have to help with the damage control. I can't watch him all the time."

"Fine," Elijah conceded. "Why don't we all go back to the London house?"

Rebekah shrugged, "Fine with me."

"Kol?"

"I suppose I could show Klaus the art of expressing his emotions with a baseball bat. I'll bring a spare," Kol agreed with a grin.

* * *

_November, 2018_

_Nashville, Tennessee_

Caroline heard the door slam shut as Stefan and Elena left for their art history class and Damon left to do whatever it is he did all day; Caroline had never cared enough to find out. Only when she was sure they wouldn't return for forgotten books did she climb out of bed.

Elena and Stefan had been acting so strange lately, but neither of them told her what was going on. They had been on her for the past week about getting out and doing things when she just didn't feel like leaving her room. But for the past couple of months they were fine leaving her alone. Why were they suddenly so interested in her leaving her room? Her curiosity had finally gotten the better of her and so she decided to see if she could find out why they suddenly were acting so strange.

She first headed to Elena's room since it was next to hers. She didn't know what she was looking for but decided that she would know it if she found it.

She opened Elena's door cautiously, not knowing what to expect. It had been awhile since she had been in here, and never to snoop. She stuck her head inside and realized how silly she was being, there was nothing in Elena's room, it just looked empty since Elena wasn't there. Caroline threw open the door and decided to begin searching at her bed. There was nothing useful in Elena's nightstand, only a photo album of her family, chap stick, and some tissues. Her desk was filled with notebooks, textbooks, extra pencils, and random nick-knacks but nothing Caroline deemed important. Caroline searched Elena's dresser and closet but the only thing Elena was hiding was a box of letters to Bonnie which was a bit strange. Why would Elena feel the need to hide them of all things? Caroline shook her head, _They were on the top shelf of her closet so it's not like they were actually hidden_, she chided herself.

Next Caroline trekked into Damon's room, hating every second she was in there. There was nothing of interest except for the three different movie stubs that were hidden in his underwear drawer and stash of Bourbon she found in the bottom drawer of his nightstand. She rolled her eyes when she found that. _Like he needs a secret stash_.

She moved down the hallway to Stefan's room, hesitating at the doorway. She felt the worst about sneaking into his room and snooping. _But he's hiding something from me and I need to know what_ she reminded herself. With that, she opened the door and let herself into his room. It looked just like it always did: neat but with lots of books and random items lying around. She searched his nightstand and under his bed first, but found nothing. Next was his desk which also wasn't hiding anything. His closet was full of clothing except for a small box full of old memorabilia. Last was his bookshelf, holding his vast collection. Caroline scanned the shelves not particularly interested in the books Stefan had collected over his lifetime. There was an assortment of paperback and hardback books, each on their own shelves. She stooped to the bottom level and scanned the shelf. There was one book that didn't quite seem right with the books next to it. She pulled it out, and felt its edges, only to realize that it wasn't a real book. Caroline quickly cracked open the faux book to reveal a little hiding space.

_This is it_. With the box in her hands she ran to her room and dumped the contents of the box onto her bed. She didn't even look at the contents before she raced back to Stefan's room and put the empty book-box back on Stefan's shelf. She didn't know how soon someone would be home and she'd rather not be caught with it. She returned to her room and sat down cross-legged on her bed, the objects of the box on a pile in front of her. The largest thing from the box was a tri-folded piece of paper. Caroline picked it up and unfolded it. The Vanderbilt logo was at the top of the letter and there was a large stain covering half of it, as if someone spilled something on it.

_Dear Caroline Forbes, _  
_On behalf of Vanderbilt University, it is my pleasure and honor to inform you that you have been offered admission to the Vanderbilt University Class of 2020. _

_Each year we review thousands of applications from students with stellar academic credentials from all fifty states and countries all over the world. Our students enroll with plans to become lawyers, doctors, educators…_

It was her acceptance letter to Vanderbilt. But why did Stefan have it? She folded it back up and placed it to the side.

The next thing that caught her eye was a passport. She opened it up and there was her picture. It was _her_ passport. She flipped through the pages and they were filled. She held it closer to see the countries. There were dozens of entrance stamps: six for France, one for Germany, four for England, two for Italy, and one for Austria. She placed the passport on top of the letter and looked back to the dwindling pile.

There were little round buttons and she picked two of them up. One was a yellow visitor's button with a large M, for the Metropolitan Museum and the other one was for the Louvre Museum. There were two more Met buttons that she picked up and added to the collection in her hand, and another button for the National Gallery and the Soane Museum. All the names tugged at her memory. Had she been to these places? No, she would remember if she had stood in front of the _Mona Lisa_. It was possible that they were Stefan's…but then why were they with her passport and acceptance letter? And the passport _did_ have stamps for England and France….She dumped the visitor's buttons back onto her bed. This box wasn't answering any of her questions at all.

The last thing was a piece of rolled up paper. She unrolled it and stared at it for a few moments because it was so beautiful. It was a drawing of her and a horse. At the bottom it read: _Thank you for your honesty –Klaus. _

_Klaus._

That name…_she knew that name_. But she couldn't put a face to it. _Klaus_. Or…_anything_. It was just sort of familiar. He had to know her if he drew a picture of her, and clearly they talked. So why couldn't she remember ever talking to a Klaus?

Suddenly, she heard a key being slid into the lock of the house. Caroline jumped up and grabbed a shoebox, throwing the pumps onto the floor of her closet and swept the documents and buttons into the shoebox. She hesitated as to where to put it, but she could hear Stefan calling her name, asking if she wanted tea. She shoved the box under her bed and crawled back under her covers, praying that Stefan hadn't heard her moving around.

She didn't want to face Stefan, she knew seeing him would only make her angry. She wasn't ready to confront him about the box of her things she found. Caroline pulled the covers up around her, ready to play dumb when Stefan eventually wandered in, but she found it hard to worry about Stefan when her mind kept wandering to one name…._Klaus_.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm in love with Kol (especially after last night's episode), so I hope I did him justice.

Let me know what you think since I currently live off of reviews and Hershey's kisses.


	3. A Dorm Room

**A/N**: Thank you for all the love you've given this story so far. It makes me happy to know that people are enjoying it! Again, thanks to my lovely beta, lilins!

* * *

Caroline gave herself the once-over in the mirror. She looked good. Not great, but good. She grabbed her Kate Spade backpack and slung it over her shoulder. She was going to go to class today.

No one had been by her room in the morning to try and convince her to go to class since Monday. She had decided late last night that she would surprise them by going. She secretly hoped to catch them off guard enough that they might let something slip.

She quietly made her way down the stairs into the first floor hallway stopping just outside the kitchen's entrance way. Inside Elena and Damon were laughing at Stefan's stories of his Brit lit professor.

"He kept messing with the podium switches and then he _finally_ gets it on and he has the movie **blasting**. I mean, I think my eardrums may have literally shattered and repaired themselves," Stefan told them as he waited for his toast to pop up from the toaster.

"Ouch, poor Stefan," Elena chuckled sympathetically, stirring her mug of tea.

"You'd think they'd be able to hire people who know what they're doing," Damon rolled his eyes.

"He's a great teacher…he just really sucks at technology," Stefan replied as his toast popped up. He grabbed the slice of bread and buttered it, setting it on his plate. "And the poor TA kept trying to help him but he kept insisting that he could do it himself," Stefan continued as he took his seat at the counter and dug into the pile of eggs on his plate.

Elena laughed and they all fell into a comfortable silence as they continued their morning routine.

_You can do this_ Caroline told herself as she let her footsteps be heard and walked into the kitchen.

All three occupants turned to look at her at once. Stefan and Elena wore identical looks of shock upon their faces. Even Damon raised his eyebrows in surprise but was the first to recover, turning his attention back to the contents of his mug in front of him.

Elena quickly sprung up from her seat, and rushed over to Caroline. "Caroline! Do you want anything to eat?"

"I can get it," Caroline replied as she moved away from Elena and placed her backpack down on the counter. She walked to the cabinets and took out one of the Vanderbilt mugs. She could feel their eyes upon her as she took out a blood bag from the freezer, dumped it in the mug and set it in the microwave. Once she pushed the reheat button she turned back to Elena and asked, "Do you want to go to Starbucks before class?"

No one said anything for a minute. Then Elena and Damon both started talking at once:

"Sure we can-"

"What class? You dropped out."

Caroline's attention immediately snapped to Damon, "What?"

"You never really went to class Care," Elena supplied before Damon could say anything and make the situation worse.

The microwave beeped and Caroline took out her mug. No one said anything while Caroline drank her warmed blood. When she was done she set the mug in the sink, "Well, it looks like I'll just have to convince my professors that it was a mistake. Are you ready?" Caroline asked as she grabbed her backpack and headed for the door.

Stefan and Elena exchanged a look. Caroline had taken the news rather well. Elena shrugged then grabbed her own bag before catching up with Caroline on the sidewalk in front of their house. "Still want to go to Starbucks?" Elena asked as they fell in sync with each other's steps.

"No," Caroline shook her head. "Now I've got to meet with Dr. Barnett before class."

The two walked in silence for three blocks, with Elena trying to think of things to say to Caroline, but coming up with nothing. They were only a block away with the impressive campus looming in front of them, when Caroline felt a strange tug; almost as if the buildings were calling to her. "Wait. What is that?" Caroline asked Elena as she pointed to the large stone buildings slightly to the right of them.

"Oh, um…that's the Commons. It's the freshman houses," Elena told her, biting her lip.

Caroline tilted her head at Elena's tell-tale sign that she was hiding something. She took off for the Commons at vamp speed, not caring who saw her. The first building wasn't what she was looking for, so she went around and that's when she saw it: Stambaugh House. There were two guys entering through the secured door so she followed them in, pretending she forgot her ID in her room. There was a staircase immediately to her right. She climbed the steps to the second floor. At the top, she turned left and wandered down the hallway before she stopped in front of door 204.

_She was pressed up against the door as someone ran their lips down the column of her neck. She needed to get the door open before their clothing started coming off. _

_"I'll never get this open with you doing that," she teased. He released her for a moment so she could open the door, but just as quickly the door was being swung shut and she was thrown on her bed with his delicious lips continuing their descent downwards._

"_I hope you compelled her to stay away long enough," she managed to mumble as he ran his hand up her thigh and under her skirt._

_"Don't worry love I took care of it, just like I will you."_

Caroline shook her head. That had happened _here_? Had she _lived_ here? Room 204? And the man she was with, who was he? She couldn't remember his face, but she remembered the feeling of his hands roaming over her skin. And…the girl she talked about _compelling_…Caroline _knew_ she knew her…. _Holly_? Was that her…_roommate_?

Just then Elena caught up with Caroline, grabbing her by her upper arm and tried to pull her away from the door marked 204, "Come on Caroline, we need to go."

Caroline refused to budge, planting her heels in the tiled floor. "No. What is this Elena? Did I live here?"

Elena shifted uncomfortably; her hand itched to grab her phone and call Stefan or Damon, unsure how to handle the situation. "Caroline, you did live here freshman year…"

"And my roommate? What was her name?" Caroline demanded.

"Holly," Elena replied softly.

_Holly wandered into their dorm room, dropping her book bag on the floor letting its contents spill out. She didn't seem to notice her mess as she tried to pull off her jacket, but ultimately couldn't pull her arms out of the sleeves. She dragged her feet as she made her way to her bed and promptly fell over onto the blankets on top of it as soon as she was within range. _

_Caroline glanced at the clock and then back at Holly, "Don't you have class right now?"_

_Holly stared back at Caroline with blank eyes, "I don't know…do I have art now?"_

_Caroline shook her head, "You're a biology major: you're not taking any art classes."_

"_Oh," Holly said quietly and proceeded to pass out, jacket still on._

"I remember her," Caroline whispered.

_Caroline pulled off his shirt and ran her fingers down his smooth muscular chest. He reciprocated by pulling off her pink blouse and ripping the lace bra from her body, flinging it across the room with a flick of his wrist. His mouth descended upon her now-bare breast and his hand traced tantalizing shapes on the insides of her thighs. _

"_Oh yes," Caroline moaned, kneading her fingers through his hair and massaging his scalp with her fingertips. _

_Then, the sound of a key in a lock rang out throughout the room and Caroline tensed. "I thought you compelled her to go out tonight?"_

"_I did. Relax, it must be your neighbor," he countered his fingers playing with the strap of her panties._

_The door to Caroline's dorm room swung open unexpectedly and Holly stood in the doorframe._

_Before Holly could even move inside the room, he had her up against the wall by her throat, feet kicking uselessly against his body. Caroline whimpered at the sudden loss of contact and pulled her blanket around her chest. _

"_I thought I told you not to come back until tomorrow," he growled. _

"_I don't-I was-just-" Holly uselessly tried to reason with him beneath his tightening grip._

_He released Holly, who collapsed on the ground, gasping and clutching her neck. He bent over her shaking body and snapped her neck, insuring she wouldn't bother them again._

"Oh my god," Caroline gasped as she grabbed her head and let her bag fall from her shoulder.

"Care, what is it?" Elena moved closer to her friend, unsure of what was happening.

"He killed her. He killed Holly," Caroline cried, as the tears started flowing down her face.

* * *

**A/N**: How was that? Hopefully there wasn't too much italics and you all could follow what was going on. At this point, Caroline doesn't know who the man in her memories was, and hasn't connected it to any other information...I mean it was quite a shock, that last memory.

Now please tell me you were all upset as I was at last night's episode, I was crying right along with Klaus.


	4. A Massacre

**A/N**: This is going to deviate from the show's world. Mostly because I love Kol and cannot kill him off. Also this is unbeta'd.

* * *

_November, 2018_

_London, England_

Klaus grabbed another bottle of scotch from the shelf and set it on top of the bar. He could hear Elijah and Kol arguing upstairs over who was going to watch him tonight. He wasn't a _child_. He didn't need a babysitter. He hated the way they all seemed to watch his every move, waiting for him to make a mistake. What would they do if he did? He was the Original Hybrid, more powerful than all of them. They could do nothing to him anyways.

Kol's voice started to lose its edge and he could tell Elijah was going to win, leaving Kol to look after him for the night. Kol would most likely try to get him to go to one of the clubs that he frequented at night, looking for easy women to screw and drain. The thought of attending one of Kol's sleazy clubs made him uneasy. He hated being surrounded by so many people.

Klaus drank his scotch slowly, thinking of ways to avoid being roped into being Kol's drinking buddy for the night. Of course, the best solution would be to leave. Immediately.

He set down his glass with barely a clink and snuck out of the house just as quietly. As he walked further from the house through the grounds he could still hear Elijah and Kol talking; neither of them had heard him leave. Klaus made his way towards the city on foot, not bothering to use a car. He needed the distraction of keeping his pace at a somewhat human speed; he couldn't have his thoughts wandering. It had always proven dangerous when that happened.

Soon enough he found just the kind of pub he was looking for. There weren't any flashing neon "open" signs, or advertisements in the window, just a little sign over the door stating the name of the pub. Klaus pushed his way inside the dimly lit pub and took a seat at the bar. He compelled the bartender to give him a bottle of whiskey and ignored the look he received as the bartender handed it over.

His eyes swept across the pub-he liked to know the layout of every place he went-when he saw it in the furthest corner of the room: _golden curls._

His insides twisted violently.

_Caroline_.

He glanced down at the bottle clenched in his fingers then back up at the back of the girl's head.

It couldn't be her.

_Could it?_

He looked up at the back of that beautiful head of golden hair…she was leaning her head on someone else's shoulder. _What was she doing?_

"Caroline," he murmured, low enough that the humans in the bar wouldn't be able to hear him, but Caroline would be able to.

He watched her eagerly, waiting for her to spring up and shove the boy off of her…to come running to him with her blinding smile and warm lips. But she didn't move from her spot in the booth and he couldn't help but grasp onto the bar with his free hand, his knuckles turning white.

"Caroline," he repeated, a little louder this time, enough for the bartender to send him a look before turning to his other patrons.

It just _had_ to be her this time.

She didn't turn around or make any sign of acknowledgement that she had heard him.

He couldn't take it; Klaus got up and strode to the little corner booth. "Caroline," he yelled, looking down at the girl's face for the first time…

Brown eyes, dark eyebrows, thin lips and a small scar graced her hairline.

_No…no no no no no no no no. _

_It was her. I swear it was her. _

"Woah, mate, sorry but-"

"SHUT UP" Klaus roared, not even glancing at the boy who dared to speak to him.

He couldn't believe he had fooled himself into thinking this disgusting creature was Caroline. She wasn't fit to breathe the same air as Caroline. Caroline was a _queen_…this…_girl_ was _nothing_.

Klaus grabbed the girl by her hair, pulling her up and out of the booth for her deception.

Her boyfriend started to protest, but Klaus silenced him with a look of pure rage. He turned his attention back to the girl in front of him. She was scratching at his wrists, trying to get him to let go and whimpering in pain. Klaus was disgusted with her, at _himself_. He was vaguely aware of the other patrons in the pub yelling at him and getting to their feet. He would deal with them in a moment.

Klaus moved his hands from her hair to her shoulder and the side of her face. Her eyes widened at his movement, and with that, he snapped her neck. He let her body fall to the sticky floor of the pub.

"Meg!" the boy cried, recovering from his frozen state. He slid out of the booth, but before he could reach her, Klaus plunged his hand into his chest and pulled out his heart. _How useless_. He let the bloodied organ fall to the floor next to the girl's unmoving body.

Before Klaus could move to deal with the other patrons, a vervain-soaked stake was shot into his side and another was shot into his thigh.

Klaus let out a growl and pulled the blood-soaked stakes out of his body and threw them on the ground. Didn't they know who he was? They were going to have to do better than a few vervain stakes. He quickly looked around and noticed the pub's door swinging shut. _Coward_. He started towards the door to go after his attacker when the screams and cries of the remaining patrons registered. He stopped and looked around the room: a few people were ducking behind the bar for safety, another group was inching towards the door, and others were frozen in their booths and chairs.

_Perfect_.

The urge to kill was bubbling inside of him dangerously, only heightened by his previous actions. There was no one there to stop him: to run their finger down his chest and press kisses to his cheek, to whisper all the things she wanted to do to him in private to make him forget how much he wanted to tear every person he saw limb from limb.

_Stop it. She's gone._

He ran his hand through his hair trying to push away the already fleeting images of her. She couldn't stop him.

One of the girls still in the pub stumbled blindly for the door and tripped over her heels. The small curse that slipped from her mouth brought his attention back to his surroundings. A small group was following the girl towards the door. He stopped them in their tracks, greeting them with a smirk. Before anyone could run in another direction, Klaus snapped all of their necks and left their bodies lying in a pile on the floor. _It's not enough_.

The need to kill was rushing through his veins at full speed now and he needed a release. He picked up a booth and launched it at the bar, smashing all of the neatly lined bottles and sending them to the floor.

The smell of blood penetrated the air.

Someone cut themselves.

He was reminded of that ever-present ache to feed. And why not? He hadn't fed in a couple of hours.

There was a group of three men cowering underneath a booth at the front of the pub. Klaus made his way towards them, relishing in the way they huddled together when they saw him coming. He easily lifted the table, exposing their hiding spot. He grabbed one of the men and tore into his neck, savoring the warm blood sliding down his throat. When he drank his fill, he threw the body onto the floor. There were still two guys trembling on the floor. Klaus grabbed one and threw him with all his strength, only slightly satisfied when his bones crunched and splintered under the force of hitting the wall. He then turned to the last man. "No, please," the man cried as he desperately tried to scramble backwards, away from Klaus.

Klaus only scoffed at his inane begging. He bent over and pried the man's jaw apart, then ripped out his tongue, blood pouring down the man's face in rivers. Klaus wiped his hands off on his jeans then snapped the man's neck. He wouldn't be begging anymore.

He systematically made his way through the rest of the people scattered throughout the bar, tearing and drinking from them before killing them and moving on. Only one man foolishly tried to dash for the door. Klaus had his heart in his hand before he made it halfway to the door. Klaus stepped through the pools of blood that had gathered on the weathered floor and tried not to maim the dead corpses littering the floor anymore as he made his way towards the bar and the last group of people hiding from him.

Klaus had just rounded the corner of the bar and spied the little group of refugees when the door to the pub was forced open and a voice called out, "Leave any for me, brother?"

"Kol," Klaus said as he turned towards the door where Kol and Elijah stood over the bodies of the people who had tried to leave. "Still some left," he answered and tilted his head towards the floor next to him.

"Excellent," Kol grinned. In a flash he was kneeling on the floor and tearing into the throat of one of the men.

"Kol," Elijah growled, suddenly standing over him.

"Fine, fine," Kol relented as he released the man from his grasp. The man slumped unceremoniously to the floor, clutching at his neck.

Elijah gathered the last three people left alive in the pub, compelled them to forget what had happened and sent them on their way.

After the door was closed behind them, Klaus rounded on his brothers. "How did you find me?"

"It wasn't hard. You've become quite the creature of habit as of late: drinking yourself into oblivion and killing everyone in sight. We simply found our way into the city and then followed the smell of blood," Elijah informed him.

"You do have quite the mess here Niklaus," Kol said as walked out from behind the bar and looked around at damage his brother had inflicted. "I'm thoroughly impressed."

"Kol, remind me to dagger you myself when we return to the house," Elijah mentioned casually.

Kol picked up a severed arm and threw it at Elijah in response. Elijah smoothly moved out of the way, and brushed off the arm of his suit.

"Come Niklaus, let us return home and get you cleaned up. I'll have someone take care of this," Elijah proposed as he took a step towards the door.

Klaus nodded. He could feel the blood drying on his face and hands, crusting and flaking off. He rounded the bar and looked down. There was the girl. _Not Caroline_. His fingers curled into fists.

He felt his brothers' eyes on him, judging him and the girl lying on the floor before him.

Did they know? Did they have that same brief spark of hope that it was her before they realized they were being ridiculous? No. Neither Kol nor Elijah would ever be so foolish. Only he would fall for the girl who would take his heart with her when she died.

He turned from the girl's body, and stalked out of the pub not sparing a glance at Kol or Elijah as he passed.

* * *

**A/N**: How are you feeling? Disgusted? Sad? Heartbroken? Please drop me a line and let me know.

-Sarabeth


	5. A Problem

_November, 2018_

_London, England_

Elijah looked up as he saw Rebekah approaching the table. He motioned for her to sit down and she obliged, pulling out the chair across from him. He noticed she was still in the dress she left in last night, but decided not to bring it up. There were more pressing manners than the ways his baby sister chose to spend her time away from their home.

"Thank you for meeting me here."

"Well you said we needed to talk, and you asked to meet me here instead of at the house," she shrugged as she took a sip of wine from the glass Elijah had ordered for her.

"I want to talk about Niklaus," Elijah started.

"Is he okay? Did something happen?" Rebekah asked the worry evident in her voice as she set her wine glass down. She placed her elbows on the table so she could lean closer to him as if he would answer her question sooner.

"Niklaus had a bit of a...mishap last night in a pub. Kol and I got him home safely and took care of the mess..." Elijah trailed off. He wasn't sure how to explain what he thought had happened or if he was going to sound as crazy as he thought he did. "But last night, at the pub...there was a girl. Klaus stopped to look at her before he left. She was dead, I'm sure he was the one that killed her. She was on her stomach so I only saw her back...but if I do say so…I think she bared an uncanny resemblance to Caroline."

Rebekah bit her lip and looked away from Elijah, glancing at all the couples having dinner and conversing about normal topics. She wished she was one of them, if only for a day so she didn't have to worry about Niklaus. But he was her brother and it was her responsibility to look after him. "In Dusseldorf, when we were at that restaurant, I swear I heard Caroline. This girl, she sounded _just_ like her…the same laugh. And Nik, he didn't…he wasn't paying any attention to me. I'm sure he was thinking about Caroline….but then it was like he couldn't take it anymore. He just got up and started tearing everyone apart. Except for the girl, she was the only one not completely covered in blood."

Elijah nodded, "The girl last night had her neck snapped. The rest of the bodies were quite mangled but she had a relatively quick death." Elijah paused, taking a sip out of his glass. "After last night, I am inclined to agree with your belief that Niklaus has not yet gotten over Caroline's death."

"He's getting worse."

"Yes," Elijah agreed. He had bared witness to many of his brother's bloody rampages and had cleaned up after many more of them, but there was something different about Klaus' massacre in the pub last night. Maybe it was the fact that he becoming more reckless killing so many in a public place where anyone could wander in, where he could easily be attacked. _Where he was attacked_, Elijah reminded himself. "There's something else I need to tell you."

"What else could there possibly be? I think Nik going crazy because he's reminded of Caroline is more than enough. Now is not the time to hold a little dinner party or whatever else you are planning to show everyone that we're the most powerful family on earth, 'lijah," Rebekah scowled.

"No," Elijah shook his head. "I found this on the floor of the pub last night," Elijah told her as he pulled out a towel from his inner suit pocket and placed it on the table. He unrolled it to display the blood-stained stake inside.

Rebekah let out a gasp as her eyes fell on the object. "Is that…one of the Five's stakes?"

Before Elijah could stop her, Rebekah reached for the stake and let out a small whimper as her fingertips touched the wood and it burned her. She quickly pulled her hand back to her chest, fingertips already healed.

"Yes, and it has been soaked in vervain."

"Thanks for the warning," Rebekah rolled her eyes. She reached for the stake again, but this time held the towel in between her fingers and the stake. "Did Nik mention the hunter?"

"Niklaus has not said a word since last night. Kol has been with him all day, throwing knives or whatever Kol has decided to try and distract Niklaus with today, but he has not said a word that I know of. I do not think he even realized that it was one of the five, or he would have said something whether he was distracted by Caroline or not."

"He didn't even know a hunter was there, that close to him…" Rebekah realized. She laid the stake back on the table. If Klaus wasn't even able to recognize that one of the five was near him last night, his survival instincts had sorely been impaired, and that was dangerous. It put them all in danger if Klaus was susceptible to attack. "Now what?" Rebekah asked as she laid the stake back on the table.

Elijah wrapped the stake back up and placed it back inside his jacket for safekeeping. "Now we need to be extra cautious, we cannot let Niklaus out of our sight. He has gained the attention of a hunter and he is probably curious as to why Niklaus did not die last night when he staked him. It is only a matter of time before this hunter finds out who Niklaus is, if he doesn't already."

"But he can't kill Nik. He doesn't have a white oak stake," Rebekah insisted.

"No, but that does not mean he cannot get one once he learns who we are," Elijah reasoned.

"The Salvatores," Rebekah breathed. "They wouldn't."

"I am positive they wouldn't hesitate to hand over the stake if the hunter threatened Caroline," Elijah reasoned with her.

"But why would he threaten Caroline?" Rebekah asked. "Why not threaten them, or even their precious Elena?"

"I've been keeping tabs on Caroline it seems she's not…entirely herself. A hunter would easily pick her out as the weakest one of their group."

"Not _herself_?" Rebekah hissed. "What do you mean?" Caroline had managed to become her closest friend while she and Klaus were dating and Rebekah could only imagine what the other blonde was going through.

"She's rather…lethargic from what I understand. She's rarely seen outside the house her, Elena, and the Salvatores share. As of May she began this…un-Caroline like behavior, with it worsening around August."

"_Worsening_? Since _May_? Elijah, we can't let this continue! It is obvious Caroline and Nik aren't meant to be apart!" Rebekah exclaimed, hoping Elijah would finally see the light and bring this whole ridiculous arrangement to an end.

"That may be true, but the Salvatores still have the stake," Elijah sighed. He had only wanted what was best for his family and Caroline and Niklaus' relationship was a threat to the empire they were building. The plan to separate the two had been a brilliant one but how was he to know that Niklaus was going to cause more damage without Caroline than he did with her? It was hurting Elijah to see Niklaus in so much pain and knowing it was by his own hand. Now things were too complicated and he couldn't return Caroine to Niklaus without the Salvatores staking one of them for going back on their deal. He was suddenly grateful and relieved for all the years Klaus had taken charge of their family, trying to keep them safe and happy. It was too great of a task for Elijah to bear and he couldn't wait to return it to Niklaus.

Rebekah pulled Elijah out of his thoughts with her reply, "But they can't give the white oak stake to the hunter to kill Nik, they'll kill themselves too."

"Yes, but they're not a part of your, Kol's or my lineage. I do not doubt that they will somehow convince the hunter to use it on one of us to hurt Niklaus since I am sure they do not want to end their own lives. You know they never warmed up to him and Caroline," Elijah reminded her. "Or the hunter might simply kill Niklaus regardless of his promises to the Salvatores. There are too many variables yet, Rebekah."

"So there is nothing we can do? We can't tell Nik about Caroline?"

"Maybe once we pay a visit to this member of the brotherhood and take care of him we can visit the Salvatores and…_renegotiate_ our deal with regards to Caroline and the white oak stake."

Rebekah broke out into a large grin at his words and Elijah couldn't help the small smile that formed on his own lips.

* * *

_November, 2018_

_Nashville, Tennessee_

Stefan sat on the couch of their living room flipping through the course catalogue. He was supposed to meet with his advisor soon to go over his class schedule for the next semester. One of the psych courses caught his eye: _ PSY 270: Positive Psychology_

_Caroline would love that class…or the old Caroline would've,_ Stefan corrected himself. He made a little star next to it and continued looking at the list of classes being offered. He was debating whether he should take another English class or fill another pre-requisite for graduation when the door to the house banged open and Caroline blurred past the entryway to the living room and up the stairs.

Elena appeared in the hallway seconds after Caroline, dropping her book bag on the floor. Stefan put down his stuff and stood up, alarmed at the worry written across Elena's face. "Elena, what's going on?"

Elena shook her head, "I…I don't know. We went Stambaugh House..."

"Caroline's old dorm room? Why would you go there?" Stefan demanded.

"She just ran off! I found her outside her old room and she was crying. She asked who her roommate was..."

"Did you tell her?"

"Yes." Stefan groaned in response. "What was I supposed to do Stefan? She was having a breakdown in the middle of the hallway. I didn't think it was a big deal..." her voice trailed off and Stefan could tell there was something else, something that _was_ a big deal.

"What happened, Elena?" Stefan asked. Elena couldn't be keeping secrets about Caroline.

Elena took a deep breath and continued, "She said _'he killed her._'"

_That's not possible_, he thought. He shook his head at Elena, "No…does she remember him?"

"I don't know," Elena said. "She didn't say his name, but she remembered that he killed Holly."

"I think we need to find out exactly how much she knows," Stefan suggested. Elena nodded in agreement and they quickly walked up the stairs to Caroline's room. Her door was shut, but they could hear the sounds of Caroline moving things around inside. Stefan and Elena exchanged glances before Stefan opened the door. "Caroline?" he called as he stepped into her room with Elena behind him.

Caroline emerged from her closet with her arms full of clothing. She flung them on the floor, letting them fall onto the already messy floor. "Where's all my clothing that I bought with Holly?" she cried as she kicked the cream-colored blouse nearest to her foot. "We went shopping together, I know it. Where's my clothing, it's missing!" Caroline yelled as she dove back into her closet, trying to find her lost clothing.

"Caroline," Stefan said softly as he approached Caroline. "You're not going to find anything."

Caroline turned from her task to face Stefan. "Why not?"

_Because we burned all the clothes you bought with Holly so you wouldn't remember her, so this wouldn't happen. _

"Because you gave them away. You said you didn't want them anymore," Stefan lied.

Caroline was quiet for a moment, then she took a deep breath and started towards her desk where the contents of her photograph box were emptied out. "But her picture…I remember her face, but I don't have any pictures of her," Caroline said distractedly as she sorted through the photographs again, looking for the face she might have missed the first two times she looked through them. "I know we had to have taken pictures together…"

"_Smile loves," he said as he held the camera up to his face._

_Caroline wrapped her arm around Holly's shoulder and she felt Holly's hand rest on her own. Caroline smiled as the camera's flash went off. _

"_Gorgeous."_

"_This isn't too much?" Holly asked as she looked down at her ensemble consisting of a Vanderbilt sweatshirt, short black shorts with VU written on the side and black and gold ribbon tied around her ponytail. _

"_No it's perfect," Caroline insisted. "You'll fit right in at the game." Caroline looked down and ran her fingers over her VU cheerleading uniform. "I have to get going; Michaela's going to kill me if I'm late. I'll look for you guys in the stands!"_

"_Good luck Caroline!" Holly yelled as Caroline scooped up her duffle bag and ran out of their dorm room towards the football stadium._

Caroline squeezed her eyes shut as the scene stopped playing in her head and a few new tears sprung to her eyes.

"What is it Caroline?" Elena asked.

"Where is it? I know I have one. The one of my first game at Vanderbilt, I dressed Holly up and we took a picture together," Caroline said as she shoved the piles of pictures to the corners of her desk.

"Caroline," Elena said softly, unsure of what to do.

"Maybe you lost it," Stefan suggested.

"No," Caroline interrupted, "_Where is it?_" she yelled as she picked up the empty photograph box and threw it across the room where it left a dent in her cream-colored wall. "I loved that picture of us…I loved _her_…I didn't want her to die. It was my fault," Caroline confessed as she bit her lip to stop the tears.

"No, it wasn't your fault," Stefan assured her as he stepped forward and wrapped her in a hug.

"It was. I let it happen," Caroline cried, her voice muffled by Stefan's shirt. "He grabbed her and I didn't stop him. I should have stopped him…but I was angry that she interrupted us too! I let him!" Caroline sobbed, gripping tightly onto his shirt for support.

"Shhh, it's okay Caroline," Stefan tried to calm her. He scooped her up and sat her on her bed, sitting down next to her and rubbing her back. "Care, do you know who killed Holly? Do you know his name?" Stefan asked.

Caroline shook her head as she rubbed the tears from her eyes, "No. I can't even remember his face really, just his voice…" _being called love, the feel of his hands on my skin, how much I wanted him, how eager he was to rip off all my clothes…And dimples. I remember dimples_ Caroline finished silently.

"It'll be okay, Care. You should get some rest," Stefan told her.

"I'll bring you up a drink," Elena offered.

Caroline nodded and sunk down into her bed. Stefan and Elena took it as their cue to leave and made their way down to the kitchen.

Elena grabbed a blood bag from their freezer and dumped it into a mug for Caroline. "Well at least she doesn't remember him," Elena remarked quietly so Caroline couldn't hear.

"Yes bus she should not have been able to remember Holly's death at all since Klaus was the one who killed her. And why now? Why does she remember it now?" Stefan asked, drumming his fingers along the island countertop.

"She did remember it when were at her dorm room…" Elena offered.

"So the location has something to do with it?" Stefan guessed. "But we can't keep her locked in here forever and not let her go out."

"She might not remember anymore, Stefan. This could've just been a mistake. Maybe Bonnie didn't erase her memory of Holly properly," Elena suggested.

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Stefan replied. "Who knows what else she might've missed then," Stefan wondered. They couldn't have Caroline remembering Klaus. It would be too messy. "Maybe we should contact Elijah or Rebekah and ask them. They might've dealt with this type of thing before."

"No Stefan, you can't. If they think we're not holding up our end of the bargain, they'll kill Caroline for real," Elena persuaded him.

"You're right. We don't know what they'd do," Stefan sighed. "And we can't risk Caroline's safety."

"I'm going to take this up to Caroline," Elena said as she held up the mug. Stefan nodded and Elena left him alone in the kitchen.

* * *

**A/N**: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even if it did take me forever to write it (sorry!).

I promise to try and get the next chapter out faster

Review, tell me if you loved, it hated it, thought there should be more of someone, less of someone, less flashbacks, etc.


	6. A Phone Call

_November, 2018_  
_Nashville, Tennessee_  
Stefan pulled out the chair at their island, about to sit down with his blood bag when suddenly, his phone began to ring. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the screen: _Rebekah_.

What was Rebekah calling him for? He hadn't heard from her in almost a year. "Hello?"He spoke into his phone, pushing his mug away from him on the counter.

"Hello Stefan. Miss me?"Rebekah's teasing voice came through the receiver.

He couldn't help but smirk at her greeting, and couldn't help but reply, "Every day."

"Right," Rebekah snipped, "more or less than you miss Caroline?"

_What did she mean?_ Stefan immediately looked up in the direction of Caroline's bedroom, afraid that the Originals had gotten to Caroline somehow in the few minutes he was downstairs. He could hear Elena in her own bedroom, shifting through her backpack and pulling things out of it, but it took him a moment to hear Caroline's soft movements in her bed. He was immediately relieved that Caroline was safe in her room, but the uneasy feeling still sat in his stomach. "What do you mean?" he asked, waiting for clarification as to what Rebekah could possibly be talking about.

"Elijah informed me today that Caroline hasn't been herself since our little...interference."

Stefan didn't reply right away. He could hear Caroline sniffling every so often, no doubt still feeling guilty over Holly's death. He walked from their kitchen to the front porch, closing the door behind him. He didn't want there to be any chance that Caroline could overheard him. "No she hasn't been herself."

"How exactly? Elijah was a little short on details...Is she okay?"

Stefan couldn't help the little smile that managed to grace his lips at Rebekah's last question. Rebekah had always tried to be tough but he could hear the sincerity evident in her voice. Both Caroline and Rebekah had been reluctant to spend any time together when Klaus and Caroline had started dating, but somehow they had become close friends. He had always assumed it had something to do with their shared love of shopping and complaining about Klaus.

He wanted to tell Rebekah everything that had been happening with Caroline but he was afraid of what would happen if he did. Both Elena and Damon would hate him, and Elijah might do something drastic like take Caroline away from them if Rebekah let it slip that Caroline had remembered a few events that were supposedly erased from her memory. And who knew what Elijah would do with Caroline once he had taken her away?

"Stefan? Is she okay? You need to tell me," Rebekah asked again.

_To tell Rebekah or not to tell Rebekah..._

"Please Stefan, if you don't tell me I'm going to come see her for myself!"

"No," Stefan immediately responded. "I'll tell you." He took a calming breath that didn't need, much like he taught Caroline. "Caroline was fine when Bonnie first cast the spell. She went to school, continued to cheer and plan half the school's events, and she was even on the bunny diet. Then, around late April she dropped out of cheerleading, and you know how much she loved it. Her attendance at class became sporadic, and she almost missed her media ethics final, but we got her out of bed and there somehow. After the semester ended she refused to hunt. She's been living off of blood bags since then. During the summer we took her to the beach for a month, and she didn't seem to enjoy it at all. She had no enthusiasm for anything we did. Then...in September it got worse. Since the she's barely left her room and only attended class a handful of times and we practically had to drag her there. And then today..." Stefan started, but stopped once he realized he wasn't sure how much to tell her.

"What happened today?" Rebekah pressed.

"This morning Caroline came down while we were eating breakfast and said something about going to class, but we already informed Vanderbilt that she had dropped out for the semester. Caroline didn't take the news well and said she would convince her professors it was a mistake. Then, she and Elena left. They were gone for maybe 45 minutes when Caroline came running back into the house crying. Elena and I think she..._remembered_."

"What?" Rebekah gasped from the other side of the phone. "_Everything_?"

"No, just things connected to her dorm room, which is where Elena said they were. She remembered Holly and remembered that Klaus killed her."

"So she remembers him?"

"No," Stefan shook his head even though she couldn't see him. This was all so complicated. "Caroline said she just remembers a man but not his face. She's really upset," Stefan told her, recalling how Caroline had been sobbing in his arms not even an hour earlier.

"_Oh_."

Stefan strained to hear the inflection in Rebekah's reply. Was she actually upset that Caroline didn't remember Klaus?

"Have you dealt with this before? Is this normal? How did she remember Holly?" Stefan inquired, against his better judgment. He didn't want to ask Rebekah for help but he desperately needed answers on his friend's condition.

"I can't...I don't know Stefan. I've never had a witch erase someone's memory before, I could always compel people. I could ask Elijah or Kol...?" Rebekah suggested.

"No that's alright," Stefan quickly assured her. Telling Rebekah was enough of a risk, he didn't need her telling Elijah and Kol what was happening too. "We'll keep her away from her dorm room since that's what seemed to trigger it. And Rebekah, could we keep this just between us, for now?"

"Okay," Rebekah agreed. "But there's something else: the white oak stake. You need to hide the stake in a better place, Elijah is worried about it and he's going to come take it from you if you don't hide it somewhere better than the attic of your house."

"How do you…?" Stefan sputtered, but then shut his mouth. It seemed there was little the Originals didn't know.

"Elijah, remember," Rebekah replied.

"Why is he so concerned about the white oak stake all of a sudden?" Stefan asked. The deal was that they kept the white oak stake for insurance and if Elijah suddenly wanted the stake something had to be going on.

Rebekah was silent for a moment, and then she explained. "Nik was out at a pub last night where he was attacked by one of the five. Elijah is convinced the hunter will find the stake and use it on Niklaus."

"But we have the stake. There's no way that the hunter could get it," Stefan assured her.

"Do you not remember last time? The hunters are smart Stefan," Rebekah implored him. "If this hunter doesn't know about the stake already, it's only a matter of time before he finds out about it and comes for it."

"We won't let him have it," Stefan promised.

"I'm sure you wouldn't let him have it, but if he had Caroline would you trade it then?" Rebekah asked.

Suddenly it made sense, Rebekah's sudden call. The stake was in danger and Stefan and Elena would trade the stake for Caroline if she was in danger. And Caroline in her current state was a much easier target than she had ever been, and she had always been a magnet for trouble to begin with. A sudden feeling of dread settled over his shoulders. Things were about to get a lot worse if one of the five was after Klaus and the stake.

Rebekah finally spoke up, "I thought so. It'd be in your best interest to move the stake somewhere safer. And Stefan?"

"Yeah?"

"Take care of Caroline."

* * *

_November 2018_

_London, England_

With those words, Rebekah hung up the phone.

She sat down on the sofa in the living room of her flat in London that overlooked Green Park. After dinner with Elijah she had decided it best to call Stefan from the privacy of her own flat rather than the house they all shared.

Her head spun with all the information Stefan had told her. Caroline didn't seem to be doing any better than Klaus was. _A least she's not murdering everyone she sees…unless she is and Stefan didn't tell me that part…but Elijah would have said something if she was. He would have intervened already and Stefan didn't mention anything about seeing Elijah's lackeys_.

Rebekah ran her hand through her hair. She was unsure of what to do next. She had already told Elijah that she believed Klaus and Caroline shouldn't be separated and Klaus' behavior this past year had already proven her point. Elijah seemed to be coming around to her point of view if dinner earlier was any indication, but would this new information about Caroline mean anything to him? He seemed to already know that Caroline wasn't her sweet and bubbly self but did he know how different she had become? Would it matter if he did?

All Elijah seemed to care about lately was making sure every vampire and werewolf in Europe knew that they were the ones in charge. Elijah killed the vampire "lords" that had popped up all over Europe while they were in Mystic Falls all those years ago breaking Klaus' hybrid curse and making sure the werewolf clans were not about to try and take on their family. He was almost as bad as Niklaus was when he was determined to break the sun and moon curse.

Rebekah got up from her spot on the couch and walked to the kitchen, opening up her wine fridge and grabbing a bottle. She opened it easily and poured herself a generous glass. Her brothers were too much to even think about without a drink.

_What about Caroline remembering that Klaus killed Holly? Bonnie said she wouldn't remember anything connected to Klaus when she performed the spell. And now all of a sudden she remembers that he killed Holly? Something is wrong…I could ask Elijah what he thinks is wrong even though I promised Stefan I wouldn't…_but what would Elijah do? Rebekah took another gulp. Would he make Bonnie perform the spell again, or would he let Caroline have the memory? And would Caroline remember anything else?

Rebekah emptied the contents of the bottle into her wine glass and took another long sip. She was at a loss what to do. Her brothers were unpredictable at best, and with Klaus acting out and Elijah in control she wasn't sure what the rules were anymore. She wanted to help her brother and her friend….S_tefan and I could get them together. They could meet somewhere, then Klaus would know she's alive and Caroline…Bonnie would have to reverse the spell somehow._

_What a mess._

She pulled out one of the chairs at her kitchen table and sat down, resting her head in her hands. What was she going to do?


	7. A Name

**A/N**: WHAT AN UPDATE WITHIN A WEEK OF THE LAST CHAPTER?! Must be because I got some nice reviews from last time, they seriously made me get in gear.

I just want to address a couple things that people have been asking in reviews. Yes, Klaus remembers everything but he believes Caroline to be dead. Caroline cannot remembers anything (well...except for the not-so-great things she has remembered). As to why their friends & family concocted this terrible plan to keep them apart...? Well, that would just ruin it =D

Also, addressing the use of italics, I use them to represent thoughts and memories/flashbacks. My readers are smart enough to discern between the two so that I don't have to write out out ****new memory coming out**** every time, so I thank you for that.

* * *

_November 2018_

_Nashville, Tennessee_

Caroline woke up, and immediately squeezed her eyes closed tighter. If there was one thing she did not want to do, it was face the light of day. She didn't feel like doing anything at all today, which didn't stray from the way she felt most days lately.

After a few moments, she pulled her covers down and peeked at clock that sat on her nightstand. 9:07AM. Stefan and Elena would be at class right now and Damon….she couldn't hear any movement in the house. He was probably off doing whatever it is that he did all day long until Elena came home.

She reluctantly got out of bed and made her way down to the kitchen, grabbing a blood bag from the freezer. She tore open the top and began to sip it slowly, savoring the rich taste as it slid its way down her throat. She always felt strange feeding when they were watching her and tried to drink it as quickly as possible so she relished the times they left her alone in the house so she could feed as she pleased.

Caroline's thoughts turned back to the memory that plagued her yesterday. The image of the man mercilessly snapping Holly's neck replayed in her mind over and over last night as she tried to fall asleep. She wondered who he was. Holly had done nothing wrong, but Caroline hadn't done enough to stop her. She hadn't done anything at all, just laid in her bed as it happened. The thought made her stomach twist and fresh tears well up in her eyes all over again. She swiped at her tears and tried to focus on something other than Holly.

She couldn't remember who the man was, and she hated herself for it. She knew she would feel better if she could put a name to the face. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of thoughts of him. She couldn't do anything on that front either.

But there was Stefan's mysterious box. Or rather, her box that Stefan hid from her in his room for some reason. It was the perfect time to explore the contents again and do a little research on the items she had shoved in her shoebox before returning the empty box back to Stefan's hiding place. No one would be home for a little while yet, allowing her the privacy she suspected she needed since they were hidden to begin with.

Caroline quickly made her way back to her room, not wanting to waste a minute. As soon as she stepped inside her room, she pulled the shoebox that contained her passport, letter, drawing, and buttons out from underneath her bed.

She placed the box on top of her desk and shoved all the pictures she had dumped out yesterday back into her photo box and dropped it on the floor. She opened the shoebox and stared at its contents. They all were as unfamiliar to her as they were two days ago. Where to begin?

The colorful little buttons caught her eye. A few had a large M in the center with a circle and three intersecting lines inside the circle. There were also little circles at the edges of the M. _That design…._

She picked up one of the buttons with the M printed on it, there were so many of them. She was certain had seen this design before she just couldn't seem to remember _where_ or _when_. She decided she would find out with a little help from the internet. She booted up her computer and continued to examine the button in her hand. There was a little part of the button that folded over…_to place on your clothes for when you walk around the museum,_ Caroline surprised herself by remembering. They allowed admission into a museum.

Once her computer was started she opened up her browser and went straight to Google images and typed in "museum m button" and hit enter. Instantly, a slew of images popped up on her screen. One of the images in the top row caught her eye. It was a photo of a bunch of buttons on the left then they buttons were placed together in a jar on the photo in the right, and among the many buttons were a few colorful M ones that matched hers.

She clicked on the photo, to find out if they said what museum it was and a new page appeared. There was a new photo featuring more buttons at the top of the page, but she scrolled past it, only stopping when she found the original photo. Beneath it was a paragraph, describing the Metropolitan's Museum of Art's button with a giant M diagrammed like Leonardo's Vitruvian Man.

Caroline blinked at the page in front of her and clasped the yellow M button in her left palm. _The Metropolitan Museum of Art…_

Suddenly, there was a stabbing pain in her head, and Caroline dropped the button and grabbed her head. She slowly lowered her head, resting her elbows on her desk and closed her eyes, wishing for the pain to stop.

..

"_Love we've been here for hours, surely you're ready to move on?" he whispered in her ear as he moved he pressed his body behind hers, causing shivers to run down her spine. _

_She chose to ignore him and instead focused on the painting in front of her. It was _Charlotte du Val d'Ognes. _The girl in the painting, Charlotte, appeared to be looking straight at Caroline for disrupting her in the middle of her sketching session. She loved the soft colors and the details in the folds of her dress; everything about the painting was simply gorgeous._

"_I see Charlotte has captured your attention as well," he interrupted her thoughts, taking a slight step back from her and she knew she had won; they would be staying until she was done wandering around the museum. Caroline didn't say anything and she knew he was about to tell her more than was on the little plaque._

"_Charlotte was originally attributed to another painter, Jacques-Louis David and it wasn't until 1951 after the MET got a new curator, Charles Sterling, who decided to look into the origin of the painting since he did not believe David painted it. He found out the painting was shown at the 1801 Salon; there were a couple other artists who sketched the exhibit and this painting was among them. He attributed the work to Constance Marie Charpentier, one of the artists who were shown at the Salon. The art world seemed satisfied with this conclusion, until 1996, I believe, when Margaret Oppenheimer proposed Marie Denise Villers as the painter. Ms. Villers was also shown at the Salon in 1801 and her other paintings have similar characteristics." She knew that infuriating self-satisfied smirk was gracing his face as he continued to stand behind her. "Now are you ready to go, love?"_

_She didn't respond for a second, pretending to think it over. "No," she decided as she turned and began to walk towards the next section of galleries, the American Wing if she wasn't mistaken. _

_She only managed to take a few steps when she felt his fingers grasp her forearm. She immediately stopped walking, but he walked past her, straight ahead and away from the American Wing. She had no choice but to follow him, his grip on her was strong and while he would let her go if she really wished, she was intrigued by his sudden change in mood._

_He led her through the galleries to the Great Hall and down the steps to the first level. She couldn't help but glance up towards the impressive ceiling where pools of sunlight were streaming through the upper windows. It had seemed impressive when they first walked in several hours earlier and it had not lost its appeal in the late afternoon. He continued pulling her forward and out the front doors of the museum. Once they were outside on the steps he picked up his speed, leading them down the sidewalk and into Central Park. _

"_Where are we going?" she asked him. She thought he was going to take her to the Empire State Building after the MET and while she had never been there before, she was certain it was not in the middle of Central Park. _

_He didn't answer her but quickened his pace even more, and Caroline was torn between playing along with his little show of dominance or pulling her own and making him tell her where they were going. She sighed and decided to play along as long as it didn't continue on for too long. He led them down a couple of paths until they reached a giant rock wall which was flanked on one side by a hill: a totally secluded spot. She should have known._

_He pushed her against the wall and buried his face in the crook of her neck, pressing kisses to her collarbone. _

_Caroline couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips, "You dragged me out of the museum for this?"_

_He placed a kiss to the slope of her shoulder, "We were there for five hours. That was long enough without touching you."_

"_But I wasn't done," Caroline whined._

_He pulled away from her and stared into her eyes, the corners of his lips curving into a smirk. "I'll make it up to you." _

_Before Caroline could protest, his lips were over hers, his tongue swiping at the seam of her mouth, begging for entrance. With a small sigh Caroline obliged, and his tongue danced over hers. _

_He pressed his body closer to hers, one hand settling on her waist, the other cushioning the back of her head from the wall._

_He wasn't close enough. Caroline lifted one leg and hooked it around his hipbone and pulled him closer. She broke free from his mouth and wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted both of her legs up and around his waist, grinding down on him and creating hot friction between their bodies. _

_He pulled her tighter as he ran his fingers down her back and press her up against the wall once more. Caroline could feel his attraction pressing into her stomach and it increased the ache that had started to build between her legs. _

"_Why didn't you wear a skirt love," he complained as he pinned her hips to the wall with his and snaked one hand up her shirt to cup her breast over her bra. He squeezed gently and nipped her earlobe before placing a kiss below it on her neck._

_Caroline couldn't help the moan that escaped her mouth. "Mmmmm, don't stop Klaus."_

_.._

Caroline's eyes shot open as the name escaped from her mouth in the memory. But was it really a memory?

_I didn't think Holly was real until Stefan and Elena said so, it has to be a memory. But who is Klaus and why was he groping me in Central Park? _

_Klaus _

The name was familiar, _very_ familiar. Caroline turned towards the shoebox that contained the rest of the secret documents and buttons and pulled out the rolled up drawing. She unrolled it slowly, careful not to mess up the drawing itself, or the name in the corner…._Klaus_.

She looked back to the drawing and a whole wave of emotions overcame her: anger, lust, yearning, wonder, remorse, affection, disgust, happiness, excitement, and…love?

Did she _love_ him?

Who was he?

And where was he now?

She rolled up the drawing and placed it back into her shoebox. She then grabbed the acceptance letter and unfolded it, scanning it again. The words were the same but the stain that covered half of the letter is what kept her attention. What was it? Who would spill something on her acceptance letter?

..

"_Klaus!"_ _she yelled as she sped into their house. She paused for a moment then ran into the kitchen where he was leaning against the kitchen island, a glass of wine in front of him. _

"_Hello love," he said as he stepped towards her to give her a proper greeting. . _

_Caroline quickly pushed him away with one hand and waved the letter she held in other hand in front of him, "It came!"_

"_What is it?" he asked, obviously irritated that something had taken precedence over his greeting._

"_It's from Vanderbilt," she explained, as she held it in front of her, reading her name on the envelope again. Miss Caroline Forbes, that was her. _

"_Well? Aren't you going to open it?" he inquired._

"_I…I don't know," she said softly, biting her lip. What if she didn't get in? Vanderbilt was a very prestigious school after all. Their acceptance rate was only about 14%. What was the chance that she got in?_

_"What do you mean? Would you like me to open it for you?" Klaus offered as he plucked the letter from her fingers. _

_"No," Caroline cried, "don't!" He let her take the envelope from him and she tossed it onto the counter, deciding that she wouldn't open it. She didn't particularly feel like reading a rejection letter from her number one school at the moment._

_"Why aren't you opening it?" he asked as she moved to get herself a wine glass, deciding that alcohol was the best way to deal with the letter._

_She took a breath, how to explain it to him without sounding exactly as old as she was? "Because...it's a rejection letter, I know it and I don't feel like reading 'Sorry we can't accept you, maybe next year.'" _

"_And how do you know it's a rejection letter?" he queried as he slid the letter on the counter so that it was closer to her._

"_You get a big packet if you're accepted, everyone knows that. And mine is regular-sized," she explained as she grabbed his bottle of wine and poured it into her glass. He didn't say anything which caused her to pause. She turned around and looked at him and saw a smirk was beginning to form on his perfect lips. _

_"That's ridiculous love. Just open the letter or I will," Klaus informed her as he grabbed the letter from the counter. _

_Caroline let out a little huff of frustration at his ultimatum and grabbed the offending letter from his hands. She quickly peeled open the envelope and set it on the counter. Her stomach twisted as she unfolded the letter itself and began to read: _Dear Caroline Forbes, On behalf of Vanderbilt University, it is my pleasure and honor to inform you that you have been offered admission to the Vanderbilt University Class of 2020_. Her face broke out into a huge grin at the words. She was accepted to Vanderbilt! Vanderbilt University!_

_She felt his hands settle on her waist. "So you got in then?"_

"_Yes!" she replied as she threw her arms around his neck and buried her head in the crook of his neck, the letter still clutched in her hands. _

"_Of course you did, love."_

_Caroline immediately tensed at his words. What did he mean? He couldn't have…_

_She pushed herself out of his arms and looked him in the eye, "What did you do?_

_Klaus simply raised an eyebrow at her in response._

_Reality sunk in. "Oh my god. I didn't really get in," Caroline gasped as she threw the offending letter on the counter, and rounded on Klaus, seeing red. "Do you have to compel everyone? I was okay not getting into Vanderbilt. I knew I wouldn't get in. I would have rather gotten a real rejection letter though than this stupid acceptance letter that I got because you compelled someone for me!" Caroline yelled at him, hoping he realized how much he had hurt her by his actions. _

"_I didn't," Klaus replied as he picked up his wine glass and took a sip calmly, seemingly unaffected by her little tirade. _

"_You didn't what?" Caroline narrowed her eyes at him. _

"_I didn't compel anyone to get you into Vanderbilt," he explained, setting down his wine glass so he could decrease the distance between them. "You did that all on your own." _

_She couldn't help the smile that returned to her face at his words. She had managed to get into Vanderbilt all by herself._

_"I don't know why you can't accept that you got in on your own merit. You're brilliant, Caroline. Admissions saw your light, how much you have to share with the world and how much you have accomplished in your academic career. They saw how far you are willing to go to accomplish your goals and they wanted that amazing person to earn their degree at their University. They gave you a place based on your own achievements, Caroline. They would have been fools to reject you."_

_Her smile only grew at his little speech and she launched herself at him, cementing her lips to his. He responded eagerly, picking her up and placing her on the counter in front of him. Caroline leaned back as he un-buttoned her shirt and kissed his way down her chest. Her arms splayed out behind her and hit his wine glass, tipping it over and onto the counter and her acceptance letter. Caroline let out a little cry as she realized what she'd done, and squirmed away from him trying to reach her drenched letter._

_He was faster than she was, however, and picked it up from the puddle before she could. He held the dripping letter in between his thumb and pointer finger, turned, and dropped the letter on the counter next to the sink. "There, it'll dry. Now, where were we?" he teased as his hands settled on the next button to be undone._

_She wanted him to continue but she remembered that she had yet to tell her mom. "Oh my god. I have to tell my mom!"_

_"Tell her later," he suggested as popped open another button and kissed her stomach. _

_Her stomach clenched at the contact, but she needed to focus. She got into Vanderbilt! "No, I need to tell her now. And Stefan and Elena! I wonder if they got in," she wondered aloud as she pushed him away and began to redo the buttons that he had undone. "I need to call them," she declared as she started to walk out of the kitchen. She paused at the doorway and turned back to him. "But we will be celebrating later," she informed him with a wicked grin of her own and sped out of the kitchen before he could make her forget all about the phone calls she had to make._

..

The pain in Caroline's head began to recede as she opened her eyes. She had been so happy in the memory. He, _Klaus_, had said such wonderful things about her, and in that moment, she believed him. Did he really think that highly of her?

She turned to the box of photographs that she had dumped on the floor earlier. She eased herself onto the floor and started flipping through the various photos looking for the telltale dimples, curly golden hair, and sea-blue eyes that she adored in her new-found memories…but there were none.

Not a single picture of Klaus.

She couldn't wrap her head around it. She had been with him before Vanderbilt, evident by her last memory, and she was even with him during her first year. The memory of Klaus and Caroline getting hot and heavy before he snapped Holly's neck took place in their freshman dorm as did the memory of them getting prepared for her first cheerleading game. And she didn't have any pictures of either of them. Why were there no photos of two people who she obviously cared so much about? And the better question, why didn't she remember them until now?

Tears started to well up in her eyes at her frustration and she kicked the photo box away from her in frustration but it tipped and sent the glossy photographs all over her floor.

She crawled to the mess of photographs and began to pick them up when she heard the front door unlocking. She glanced at the clock noting that it was 10:11. It had to be Stefan at the door and he would be coming to check on her any second.

She rushed to her desk and only managed to pick up the letter she had left open on her desk when the door to her room swung open, "Caroline?"

* * *

**A/N**: Did I forget to mention that this lived up to its rating a little bit in the middle there? Ooops. I'm a little nervous about it because I normally don't write sexy scenes so I apologize if it was not that great.

This chapter was mega-long because you guys were awesome at reviewing last chapter.

Is there anything specific you guys would like to see/read? More klaroline memories? More Elijah/Rebkah bonding? More of what Elijah is actually up to? Stefan's woes of trying to register for class? Maybe what Damon does all day?


	8. A Message

_8 November 2018_

_London, England_

_"I was thinking we could go on a little trip for your spring break," he said, looking up from his sketch book._

_"And go where?" Caroline asked as she turned from her communications textbook to face him._

_"Somewhere warm, as I've heard is the custom...maybe Barbados?" he proposed._

_"Klaus I can't just go to Barbados for sporting break!" she exclaimed, but a small smile broke out onto her face nonetheless. _

_"Why not?"_

_"I'm supposed to be a poor college student. Poor college students do not get to go to Barbados for spring break!"_

_"But you are not a poor college student," he pointed out._

_She rolled her eyes at him. "I know, but how am I going to explain a trip like that to my friends? Holly's struggling to scrape enough money together to get to Miami. If I told her I was going to Barbados she'd flip."_

_He could tell she wanted to spend spring break somewhere other than Nashville by the way she lit up at the mention of Barbados, but he knew her friends and the whole "college experience" she insisted on having was important to her. He also knew that spring break was a quintessential part of that experience from the numerous movies based on college life that Caroline had made him watch when she received her acceptance letter to Vanderbilt. He wanted her to have that experience._

_"Why don't you go with your friends to Miami?" he suggested. Caroline raised her eyebrows, clearly not expecting that response. "I'll get a hotel room for you and Holly and whoever else you'd like to take."_

_Caroline got up from her chair at her desk and joined him on her bed, sitting down next to him. "But why?"_

_"I know Holly will watch out for you."_

_"No, the hotel…spring break, why would you do that?" she asked. _

_"Because it's important to you, and I want you to be happy Caroline," he replied honestly._

_She threw her arms around his neck, pressing get body against his, "Thank you."_

Klaus opened his eyes, fighting down the disappointment that came with the realization that Caroline wasn't in his arms, it was just a memory. He glanced at the clock beside his bed. It was very very early morning; he had gotten no sleep at all since laying down last night, consumed with memories of her. Memories of when they were happy, when he was happy.

He couldn't close his eyes knowing that his traitorous mind would just conjure more images and memories of her. Instead he walked out into the hallway and down to the kitchen where they kept a few blood bags. Normally he detested drinking out of them but he noticed the way Elijah, Rebekah, and Kol all watched him like he was going to go mad any second and if drinking a couple blood bags helped him regain his freedom, then he would do it.

He was just about to head back upstairs to his room when he heard the front door creak open. He remained still as the front door opened, and two pairs of footsteps clumsily made their way inside the mansion. One pair of footsteps belonged to Kol, always stomping around like he own the house, but the other was female, evident by the heels clicking against the floor.

The girl had the audacity to giggle and Klaus could hear Kol shushing her. They walked down the hallway, into the sitting room if his judgment was correct. He slipped out of the kitchen and ducked into his study, without any noise.

"I'll be right back with your drink, okay?" he heard Kol murmur to the girl. The girl replied with a little laugh and he heard Kol walk out of the room, leaving her alone.

Klaus waited for the sound of glasses being placed on the counter and a bottle being opened before he walked across the hall. The girl was sitting with her back to him, half lying on the sofa, oblivious to the creature watching her. He sped around and crouched down so he was eye-level with her.

She opened her eyes but before she could utter a sound, Klaus gazed into her eyes and held her attention. "You will make no noise, you will stay perfectly still," he commanded her. She slowly closed her eyes and opened them, the only sign she had understood.

Klaus let his fangs elongate and sunk his teeth into the girl's neck, relishing the taste of her sweet blood as it flowed into his mouth. It was euphoric, nothing compared to the feeling of fresh blood pouring down his throat. He greedily sucked the blood from her vein, feeling her weaken in his grasp.

"What are you doing?" a voice interrupted his feeding.

Klaus ignored Kol's question and continued to feed from the girl's neck.

Suddenly he felt Kol's hands on his shoulder, pulling him away from his meal. As Kol pulled him away, Klaus didn't retract his fangs, tearing the girl's throat open. What little blood was left in her system was sent pouring out of the gaping hole. Klaus fell back onto the floor, licking his lips.

"What have you done?" Kol asked as he held his hands against the girl's bleeding neck as if he could heal the damage with just his hands.

"I was just enjoying the snack you brought me," Klaus told him, smirking from his position on the floor.

"She wasn't a snack," Kol snapped as he bit into his wrist and placed it against her lips. The girl made no movement.

"She's already dead," Klaus said as he stood up.

"Because of you!" Kol yelled, shoving Klaus up against the wall, his hands around his neck.

"Not the first, not the last," Klaus replied nonchalantly.

"Like Caroline," Kol shot back, squeezing tighter.

Klaus narrowed his eyes at his younger brother, "Do not mention her."  
"Why not? She's better off without you."

Klaus shoved Kol away from him. "Maybe she was, but she didn't regret being with me. I made her happy."

"So happy she died," Kol spat, knowing just how to push his buttons.

Klaus grabbed Kol and threw him across the room where he crashed into the wall, damaging the bookshelves he landed on. "Don't," Klaus warned him. "Don't you _dare_. Do you think there's a day that goes by that I don't regret not reaching her two seconds sooner? I could have saved her. I wouldn't have had to watch her die right in front of me." Klaus paced in the middle of the room, "Or maybe I should have just left her alone, never gotten to know how brilliant she was...I would have never led her to her death." He turned to Kol whose expression had softened slightly. Before Kol could try and say anything, Klaus strode out of the room and headed back to his bedroom.

He threw himself onto his bed and closed his eyes, the memory of that night haunting him.

"_Klaus, something is wrong," Rebekah exclaimed as she burst into his room. _

"_What is it?" Klaus asked as he placed the book he was reading on the small table next to his chair. _

"_I don't know. There are witches and werewolves gathering in the forest, Elijah isn't sure what is happening," she informed him, wringing her hands together._

_Klaus rose from his chair and noticed Caroline rising from her seat as well. "Caroline, you need to stay here," he told her._

_Caroline shook her head, "No, I'm coming with. I can help."_

_Klaus closed the distance between them and placed his hands on her arms. "Caroline, remember the hunter. Nothing can happen to you, I won't allow it." _

"_I know you won't," she replied with a smile and slipped out of his grip. She met Rebekah at the door. "Let's go," she called to him. _

_He didn't want her to go. The brush with the hunter still had him on edge more so than he would admit. He knew if he didn't allow her to join them she would sneak out of the house somehow anyways. He walked past her, deciding it was best not to say anything at all, they couldn't afford an argument at the moment if there was a fight brewing. He led the two blondes down stairs and outside in record time. _

"_Where?" he asked, turning to Rebekah to clarify where the gathering was happening. _

"_Follow me," she replied and sped off in the direction of the woods. Klaus kept up with Rebekah and Caroline only trailed after them by a little, her speed not able to match the Originals'. _

_Rebekah led them deep into the forest, leaping over fallen branches and speeding past the babbling creek Caroline liked to explore. _

_Suddenly, she stopped in a little clearing and Klaus and Caroline spread out, listening for their attackers. _

"_I don't hear anything," Klaus said as he glanced over at Rebekah. _

_Then he heard the sound of footsteps, his body tensing, ready to attack. He turned towards the sound only to see Elijah, Stefan, Damon, and Elena break through the tree line and into the clearing. Klaus looked towards Rebekah for an explanation. _

"_Elijah thought it best to have backup," Rebekah explained. _

_Then, it was if everything happened at once. _

_He saw the werewolves coming at him and he ran to attack them, only to have them somehow move out of his reach before he could plunge his hand into their chest. He looked around and saw a witch walking towards Caroline with a stake. Caroline was unaware of the witch, her attention occupied by the werewolf that was trying to rip out her throat. He sped over to the werewolf who immediately disappeared. He reached out for Caroline, only to see the tip of the stake poke through her chest. Her eyes turned wide as she crumpled to the ground._

_He froze and looked down, Caroline was lying on the ground before him, grey and lifeless. _

_He felt a hand on his shoulder, "Come brother, they've all gone," Elijah said as he pulled him away. _

_He wanted to yell, to plant his feet in the ground and demand that everything just stop for a moment so he could process what had just happened, but he let Elijah pull him away. It was a dream, it had to be. He watched as Stefan picked up Caroline's body and sped off._

_What was happening?_

"_Caroline…" he managed to say, stopping his movements for a second and looking at the spot where he had seen Stefan disappear with her body._

"_It's not safe here, we'll discuss it at home," Elijah assured him and tugged on his arm. _

_Klaus felt his legs moving in compliance and something wet traveling down his cheek as he let his brother lead him away._

* * *

_9 November 2018_

_London, England_

Elijah strolled into the clearing and knew immediately why he had been called. Before him were seven dead vampires. Their bodies were laid in a straight line, side by side, shoulders and arms of one body touching the next.

Being hundreds of years old Elijah had sent many different messages to various groups of people and supernaturals. Death was meant as a deterrent, it instilled a certain kind of fear in whoever the message was meant for.

As he approached the bodies he noticed that the middle vampire was a female, judging by her black skirt and pink top, and was separated from the bodies on either by a few inches, just enough to make her stand out. The hunter's stake protruding from her heart signified she was somehow important. None of the other vampires had been staked, they had simply had their necks snapped. Elijah looked at her face but could not discern her identity, her face having burned in the sunlight, but her hair…it was golden blonde…_much like Caroline's_. Fear gripped his heart, fearing for a moment that it was Caroline but his sources in Nashville had not said anything about Caroline being removed from her home. This was not Caroline.

He turned his attention to the other dead vampires. Most of their bodies had burned in the sunlight; the stench of burnt flesh was overwhelming to his sensitive vampiric senses. There were two bodies that remained un-charred, obviously they had some sort of daylight jewelry made for them. He made a mental note to look into whomever was making daylight jewelry for vampires without his knowledge; vampires who could walk in the sun usually caused more trouble and he had no need for more trouble than was already on his plate.

He walked back to the feet of the middle vampire once again. This was a message not to him, but to Niklaus. Niklaus had killed exactly seven people since the incident in the pub two days ago: a couple who drove past their home, a girl Kol had foolishly invited over, and four people last night when Rebekah and Kol took him out for drinks. The hunter was watching him: a vampiric body for each human life Niklaus had taken. But the hunter had upped the stakes, somehow he knew about Caroline. This hunter was cunning, stealthy and incredibly dangerous which meant it was only a matter of time before Caroline herself became the hunter's next victim in his quest to destroy Klaus.

* * *

Elijah walked into the foyer of their house and immediately noticed the two suitcases that rested against the wall. Before he could walk further into the house, Rebekah came bounding down the stairs her navy blue purse clutched in her hands.

"Hey Elijah" Rebekah said casually him as she walked towards the suitcases.

And where are you off to?" he asked, arching his eyebrow.

Rebekah toyed with the purse in her hands for a moment, clearly stalling.

"Rebekah I am not in the mood for games today," Elijah warned her.

"I'm going to Nashville to check up on Caroline, she started to remember," Rebekah blurted out then took a step backwards, away from him.

Elijah leaned back against their front door. He wasn't expecting this. Caroline wasn't supposed to remember, but if she was she was in even more danger than she was without her memories. If the hunter managed to capture Caroline, he would torture her for information about Niklaus. If she truly had no memories of him the hunter might be convinced he had the wrong vampire and give her a quick and painless death, but Caroline with her memories would not be able to lie and say she had no knowledge of Niklaus. Even if she didn't know any current information the hunter would assume she did and would torture her to no end. Caroline had to be protected.

Elijah nodded, "That would be wise."

"What? You're not upset?" Rebekah asked, clearly surprised by his reaction.

"I was just at the clearing a couple of miles east, the hunter left a message for Niklaus."  
"A message? How do you know it's for Klaus?"

Elijah lowered his voice so only Rebekah could hear him as he explained. "There were seven dead vampires. And as you recall, Niklaus has killed exactly seven times since Wednesday. But there was also a blonde vampire, the only one who died by a stake to the heart. I think the hunter knows about Caroline."

"No," Rebekah breathed. "How?"

Elijah shook his head, "I don't know but Caroline is in danger and if anything were to really happen to her Niklaus would find a way to end himself."

"So what should I do?"

"Go to Nashville and watch over Caroline. Make sure nothing happens to her."  
"What about her memories? Stefan said she's remembered a few things but she doesn't remember Klaus."

"She doesn't remember everything? That's good. Try to keep it that way. I will contact Bonnie and see if she has any information about the spell and why it is wearing off," Elijah informed her.

"Okay," Rebekah agreed. She grabbed her suitcases and started rolling them towards the door. "How do I stop her from remembering though?"

"Don't mention Niklaus?" Elijah suggested as he pulled the door open for her.

Rebekah rolled her eyes and walked out.

* * *

**A/N**: All your reviews and input made me want to cry. You have no idea how much I appreciate them. And I also put in that little memory at the beginning for all you who seem to want more Klaroline memories.

Kol was a bit nasty, wasn't he? I think Kol & Klaus' relationship is kinda like me and my brother's. We fight like all the time, never say anything nice to each other and the more nasty it is the better. Though I do truly love him and if anyone else other than me was mean to him I'd punch him in the face. Only I can be super mean to him. (And just so I don't confuse you, Kol does know that Caroline is alive. He's just knows what happened and can use it to make Klaus mad...so he does.)

I'm really sick right now (rotavirus, which really really sucks), so I apologize if this isn't all that great.


	9. A Confrontation

_9 November 2018_

_Nashville, Tennessee_

Stefan walked home from his last class of the day, his conversation with Rebekah from yesterday still playing in his head. He had moved the stake already from the attic to underneath a loose floorboard in his room. He had tried his best not to speed to his window and peer outside when he received a text from Rebekah that simply read: _Better_.  
As for Caroline, he was still unsure as to how to proceed. He didn't want to ask her any questions that would prompt more memories but he needed to know how she managed to remember so he could help her avoid those triggers in the future, if it was something that was even going to happen again. He had called Bonnie after Rebekah hung up on him yesterday but the witch had not answered his phone call and had not returned it either.  
He made his way up the front steps to their house and unlocked the door, slipping inside. Elena was still at class, Damon was probably off with his new buddy Dietrich drinking his cares away, and Caroline…Stefan tilted his head so he could hear better. Caroline was in her room.

Stefan walked up the stairs and down the hallway to Caroline's room. "Caroline?" he said as he pushed open her door. He found her at her desk, tears streaming down her face and her hands clutching a letter. "What's wrong?" he asked as he walked closer to her. He glanced down at the shoebox sitting next to her laptop. The little buttons, passport, and rolled up paper were all inside the box and he immediately knew why she was upset. She had somehow managed to find the mementos of her relationship with Klaus that he had saved before they destroyed all aspects of him from her life.

"Look Caroline, I can explain…" he started, guilt eating away at him at the sight of her.

"Can you?" she interrupted him before he could even begin to make up a believable lie. "You can explain to me why you were hiding my things? Or why I have no pictures of Klaus and Holly? Or maybe you can explain why up until yesterday I couldn't remember them at all!" Caroline yelled at him.

_What? She remembers his name?_ Stefan was panicking inside but he tried not to let it show. Instead he asked as smoothly as possible, "You remember Klaus?"

"Yes. I loved him," Caroline retorted. "But where is he now Stefan?" she cried as fresh tears began spilling from her eyes. "It seemed like he loved me, but where is he?"

Stefan moved to give her a hug, but Caroline shoved him, sending him to the ground. She stood over him, eyes blazing in anger. "Where is he Stefan? What happened? Why can't I remember?" she demanded to know.

Stefan sighed and sat up slowly, not wanting to be thrown back into the floor and giving himself time to think. "Klaus did love you but he left for Europe last November, you stayed here."

"Aghhh!" Caroline yelled as she grabbed her head and stumbled backwards.

..

"_Caroline, love, we're in Rome," he scolded her playfully as he grabbed her phone from her hands and slipped it into his back pocket. _

"_I know, and it's gorgeous, but Elena slept with Stefan last night and now she's all worried about how Damon's going to react and-" she tried to explain while simultaneously trying to regain her phone back so she could reply to Elena's frantic texts. _

"_I'm sure Elena, Damon, and Stefan will figure it out, as they did the last time this happened," Klaus reminded her as he quickly sped a few steps ahead of her so she couldn't grab her phone._

"_Ugh, Klaus come on! I just need to tell her it'll be okay. One text? Please?" Caroline begged, clasping her hands underneath her chin._

"_After the Domus Aurea," he replied with a grin._

_Caroline couldn't help but roll her eyes in response, of course there would be a condition. "Fine, let's go," she huffed and stormed off ahead of him, walking through the crowded streets of Rome._

_He easily caught up to her and led them through the crowd. Caroline tried to take in as much of the architecture and beauty as she could while they walked. She noticed the Coliseum through the buildings in front of them. "I thought we were going to the Domus Aurea?" _

"_We are," Klaus answered looking down at her. "Why?"_

"_Because we're walking towards the Coliseum," she replied, pointing towards the Colosseum._

"_Yes, the Colosseum is right next to where we are going. We can visit the Coliseum afterwards, if you would like?" he proposed._

"_Yeah," Caroline replied as she grabbed his hand and quickened their pace. She had always wanted to see the Coliseum and it was only a block away. Klaus laughed aside of her and guided them into what seemed to be a park with some ruins. "Are we here?" she asked, trying to keep the skepticism from her voice. _

"_This way love," he said and pulled her towards a larger building that looked incredibly old and was about to cave in at any second. _

_They walked inside the building and Caroline was overwhelmed by the sense of age and beauty of the building. She_ _wandered over to one of the walls and ran her hand against the uneven brick, gazing up at the detailed ceiling. It was absolutely breathtaking. _

_Klaus led them through a dimly lit hallway and into another room where the walls were painted with frescos, giving the room the feeling that it was still in its prime and no time had passed at all. _

"_Klaus this place is amazing," she said as she turned towards him. _

"_I knew you would like it," he quipped as he wrapped his arms around her. "This was Nero's Golden House. It was very expansive and lavish during its prime. He hosted the best parties."_

"_You know from experience?" she teased._

"_I'm not that old, love."_

_Caroline laughed, "Right, just a thousand and some years old, no biggie."_

"_And don't you forget it," he growled into her ear and placed a kiss to her neck.  
"Klaus," she whined, pressing her palms against his chest to push him away. "We still have to see the Colosseum. And I believe you owe me my phone." She held out her hand expectantly._

_He reluctantly handed over her phone, "Fine one text to solve Elena's eternal dilemma and then we're off."_

_She could agree to those terms. "Okay," she conceded as she pressed a kiss to his lips._

..

Caroline shook her head – the Colosseum, Domus Aurea, they were gorgeous and Klaus had taken her to see them.

"Are you okay?" Stefan asked, taking a cautious step towards her.

Caroline immediately held out her hands to stop him. "Don't. Klaus took me to _Rome_. We were interrupted by your drama with Elena and Damon," she spat and Stefan had the good grace to look ashamed. She glanced towards the shoebox that still sat on top of her desk – Rome was only the beginning. She dashed over to her desk and grabbed a few of the buttons, flipping them in her palm so she could see their faces and she began to feel the tendrils of a headache starting again.

..

"_This is gorgeous," Caroline said softly as she stared at the portrait in front of her. _

_Klaus leaned down so his breath floated over her neck as he replied, "I don't know. I see something much more gorgeous in this room alone."_

"_Stop," she laughed. "You're being ridiculous."_

"_I am not. A single portrait of you would be a thousand times more gorgeous than any of these," Klaus replied, gesturing to the portraits that lined the walls of the gallery. "And worth a million times as much."_

"_Hmmmm," Caroline hummed. "I guess I have to do it, I have to commission someone to paint a portrait of me to see for myself."_

"_You will do no such thing," Klaus declared. "No one will be allowed to paint you in the setting that I am picturing except for me."_

"_And what exactly would this setting be?" Caroline teased, turning around to look at him._

"_In our hotel room, in our bed," Klaus disclosed, his eyes growing dark with lust._

"_And what would I be wearing?" she asked through her eyelashes, hoping to have the same effect on him that he was having on her with his words. _

"_Nothing," he clarified, his voice low and arm wrapping around her waist, pulling her closer to him. _

_She couldn't blush, but the feeling still rose to the surface. She glanced at the portraits that lined the walls. They had just gotten to the museum and if they left for their hotel room they would miss all their plans for the rest of the day. "We have time later…"she told him, taking a slight step backwards to help gain her senses. Being so close to him was overwhelming._

"_Or now," he proposed, his thumb stroking her hipbone. _

"_If we leave now, I'll never get you to show me the rest of London, and we'll miss the performance of Romeo & Juliet," she pouted._

"_London old and dreary and Romeo and Juliet die. There, I've told you all about it, now you don't have to see it."_

"_We only have three days here before we have to go to Richmond for Bonnie's birthday," she pointed out. _

"_Yes, but it's only for two weeks. Then we can come back," he promised._

"_Or we could go somewhere else…" Caroline suggested._

"_Where?" he asked, obviously intrigued as to where she would pick. _

"_I don't know…I've always wanted to see Germany," she told him._

"_We'll go there next then," Klaus decided. "And then where, after Germany? I will take you anywhere, everywhere, Caroline." _

_She melted at his words and the smile that adorned his face. She couldn't deny him, he was perfect._

"_I know," she replied with a smile. "But for now, I'll settle for our hotel room," she smirked up at him as she laced her fingers through his._

..

"No," Caroline groaned as she shook her head.

"What is it Care?" Stefan asked.

Caroline stared at Stefan, how could he have lied to her?

"He wouldn't," she told him. "Klaus wouldn't have gone to Europe without me. He knew how much I love Europe, he promised he would take me everywhere. He wouldn't lie to me. _Unlike you_. Tell me what's going on, Stefan."

Stefan glanced at the shoebox that held her possesions that reminded her of Klaus and began to move towards it. "Don't," she commanded and Stefan stopped his movements. Her anger was quickly beginning to become too much, she needed answers now. "Seriously, tell me what happened. What is wrong with me."

"Nothing is wrong with you Caroline…I just…we…"Stefan lamely attempted to explain.

Stefan's pathetic ramblings were enough to send her over the edge, she was furious and her whole body shook with rage. Her usually manageable thirst was now at the forefront of her mind. She needed to feed...no she needed to hunt.  
"I'm hungry, but I need you to stay here until I come back," Caroline informed him.  
"I'm not going anywhere," Stefan sighed.  
Caroline sped over to him and snapped his neck in one smooth movement. "Not now you're not."  
She sped out of their house and down the street to the little park nearby. She easily picked up on a couple of animals hiding in the trees. She easily tracked the sounds of one and caught a squirrel, draining it quickly before anyone could catch her. It was good but it was not satisfying the deep hunger that her anger had awoken. She needed more, but not just animal blood...human blood.

She noticed one of the blacktop paths that winded through the park and started to follow it. Only a few minutes passed before she heard the sound of a human breathing heavily, their heart rate off the charts. She flashed towards them: sinking her fangs into their neck smoothly, drawing the precious blood she craved.

Immediately the girl started screaming and Caroline was forced to pause her feeding for a moment to compel the girl to be silent. Once the girl simpered in agreement Caroline sunk her fangs back into her neck, letting the blood soothe her hunger. She could feel the girl growing weaker, her heartbeat fainter. Still she continued to feed, to satiate the hunger her anger had unleashed until the girl's heartbeat stopped altogether.

She was dead in Caroline's arms.

Before anyone could spot them she picked up the girl's body and hid it a little way into the overgrown bushes, away from the trail. The body wouldn't stay hidden forever. Caroline quickly ripped out the girl's throat to destroy the evidence of her feeding.

_What to do, what to do..._

She had never disposed of a body before but Stefan had, he would help her with her newest problem.

She rushed back to the house, and once inside listened for where he was. She heard movement coming from his bedroom so she ran up the stairs, and found Stefan sitting on his bed, texting someone.

"What are you doing?" Caroline asked.

Stefan quickly tilted the screen away from her line of vision and locked the screen. "Nothing."

Great, he was hiding something else from her now. She pushed the thought to the side, she would get his phone later. Right now she had more important things to deal with. "I need your help." She instantly gained Stefan's full attention. "I killed a girl in the park and I need you to help get rid of the body."

"No, don't tell e you're starting to go down this road again Caroline," Stefan groaned.

"What are you talking about?" Caroline asked, genuinely confused.

"Feeding off humans and killing them? It's part of the reason why we did it in the first place," Stefan explained as he stood up and grabbed his leather jacket.

Caroline shoved Stefan into the wall, her hands wrapped around his throat, "What did you do to me?" she growled.

Stefan shoved her back, "We had Bonnie erase your memories of Klaus."

Her heart stopped. They had messed with her mind. They erased her _memories_.

_How dare they._

"YOU ERASED MY MEMORIES!?" Caroline yelled as she picked up his desk chair and threw it at him. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?"

Stefan sighed, glancing at his ruined chair that he had managed to duck, "It's complicated Caroline."

Caroline tried to remember Klaus dying. That was the only thing that would keep him from her. He had to be alive, since she had no memory of him dying. She felt the tiniest bit of hope blossom in her chest. "Klaus is alive?"

Stefan didn't look at her and she knew she had her answer.

She sped out of his room and into her own, breaking her wooden desk chair leg off and plunged it into Stefan's stomach as he rushed in after her. "Sorry Stefan, but I need to go find Klaus," she explained as she picked up her passport from the box and threw it into her purse, running out of the house before Stefan could pull the stake from his body.

* * *

**A/N**: Poor Stefan, I beat him up a lot in this chapter. But on the bright side, Caroline knows that Klaus is alive. On the kind of bright side (?) there's a little reason in there why they did it in the first place.

Got this updated in a week. How long until the next update? And what will be in it? Do you all maybe think it's time that Klaus finds out what his family has been up to...?


	10. A Revelation

_10 November 2018_

_London, England_

"Come on Klaus, we're not getting any younger," Kol prodded, trying to get Klaus to go shopping with him.

"You're worse than Bekah," Klaus replied, ignoring Kol's pathetic excuse for a joke.

"You ruined my favorite shirt the other night, you owe me a new one," Kol pouted.

"Fine," Klaus relented with a huff, letting Kol know that he would rather be doing anything but. Kol let out a little cry of triumph as he led them down the streets of London, scanning the streets for the perfect store. When he found the one he was looking for, he immediately ran inside.

They had barely stepped inside when a young girl greeted them.

"Hello, is there anything I can help you with today?"

Immediately, a smile crept upon Kol's lips and he answered as he slid up to the girl's side, "Why yes, I'm in need of some new shirts. My favorite one was ruined the other night in a scuffle," he threw a glare at Klaus. "What would you suggest?"

The girl blushed. "Well we just got some new shirts in and they're really soft. I can show you…" she said as she trailed off in the direction of the men's section.

Kol shot Klaus a grin and took off in the direction of the salesgirl. Klaus looked around in the shop, there were only a few patrons milling about the store picking out weirdly patterned clothing. Kol and the girl were around the corner of the shop discussing what colors would look best on him and Klaus resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

But he was _alone_.

He relished the idea of being truly free for a few hours while Kol flirted with the salesgirl. It would take him at least an hour to stop staring in the mirror and notice his absence. He could be halfway to Scotland by then if he wanted.

He quickly slipped outside the store and down the busy street, enjoying his newfound freedom. It felt like it had been a lifetime since he had been alone without one of his siblings breathing down his neck.

But with each stranger that he passed, each heartbeat that thrummed in his ear, he could feel his hunger growing. The same thrill ran through him as it always did of grabbing any one of the pathetic humans that surrounded him and drinking until he was sated. It had been too long since he had fed fresh from the vein. Not since Kol's little snack the other night.

Klaus continued on his aimless journey when a flash of brown hair caught his eye. He paused on the sidewalk and watched as she ducked down an alley, pulling her scarf from around her neck and unbuttoning her coat buttons. _Perfect_.

He moved effortlessly through the crowd and down the alley where the girl was cursing as she shoved her phone into the pocket of her black pants.

Klaus felt his fangs elongate at the thought of what he was about to do. He moved next to the girl and shoved her up against the rough exposed brick wall of the alley way.

"Do not move, do not make a sound," he commanded, staring into the girl's eyes.

"I won't move, I won't make a sound," the girl repeated monotonously though her eyes scanned his face, clearly afraid of what was about to happen.

Klaus wasted no time in shoving her brown hair to the side and sunk his fangs into her neck. She tensed slightly in his arms but made no other movement. Her blood flowed past his lips and into his mouth. He savored the taste as her blood pumped into his mouth, driven by her erratically beating heart.

Suddenly a sharp pain tore through Klaus' body and he quickly dropped the girl on the ground and spun around to see his attacker as he simultaneously pulled the stake from his side, noting the intricate carvings: _The Five_.

Another stake impaled itself in his chest right below his heart. "You missed," he growled as he tried to tug at the stake.

"Did I?" a voice replied from above. Klaus looked towards the voice to see his attacker hunched on a fire escape behind some sort of bin.

"You missed my heart," Klaus retorted as he pulled out the stake and threw it on the ground. He shifted his stance and was annoyed to feel pieces of the stake had splintered off and were still lodged in his chest.

"I wanted you conscious for this talk. Original or not, you would have been out for a few," the man replied easily from his spot.

"Good so you know who I am," Klaus grinned as he crossed his arms over his chest, "and that I can kill you easily no matter where you are. Now, why don't you come down and have this little chat that you've tried so hard to get my attention for?"

"You can't kill me, I'm one of the Five," the man stated as he got up from his spot and began making his way down to the alley.

Klaus let out a small laugh, "I've killed five of you before, I know what awaits me if I do, and I am unafraid."

Klaus' words temporary made the hunter freeze in his steps but he shook it off just as quickly and continued down the alley. He stopped when he was a few paces from Klaus, close enough to talk but with enough distance between them that he might stand a small chance if Klaus attacked him.

"Go ahead and kill me if you'd like to suffer the hunter's curse," the hunter shrugged nonchalantly, his former confidence restored, "but first, tell me why you left your precious Caroline unprotected all alone in Nashville?"

Klaus froze at the mention of her name, his eyes narrowing. "You'll have to do better than that mate," Klaus said lowly. "You can't use her against me anymore. No one can…Now what is it that you want? Tell me before I rip your head from your shoulders."

A smile slowly spread across the hunter's face. "So it's true? You believe Caroline to be dead?"

"Caroline is dead, I saw her die with my own eyes" Klaus growled, growing angry. The hunter was playing him. He could feel the control of the conversation quickly slipping through his fingers. What did he know that he didn't?

"Really?" the hunter asked with a raised eyebrow "with your _own eyes_? Well then, I guess the then the young blonde girl attending Vanderbilt University and living with the Salvatores in Nashville that I saw with _my_ own eyes is _not_ Caroline Forbes…"

_Caroline is alive._

In an instant Klaus had the hunter up against the brick of the alleyway his arm across the hunter's throat, letting him fight for each breath against the smooth plane of Klaus' arm. "What are you talking about?"

"Sss-she's…ah…aalive…in…N-Nashville," the hunter managed to choke out under Klaus' wrath. Klaus eased up the pressure a bit and he continued, "We have Bonnie B-Bennett. She told us that she made you believe Caroline was dead but she's really alive. You honestly didn't know?"

"She's not alive," Klaus repeated, shaking the man in his grip. "She would have come for me, she would have found me." _She would not leave me alone._

The hunter moaned as his head clashed with the brick violently. "Bonnie-she did some sort of spell."

Klaus pushed the hunter further into the wall, the brick crumbling into pieces around his body. "What did she do?" he demanded to know.

"I don't know, just a spell, we didn't care, didn't ask her. We had to find you, to stop you from making more vampires," the hunter explained as pain coursed through his body. "I don't know what you're planning but we're onto you."

"Making vampires?" Klaus mused, his grip easing on the hunter. He hadn't made any vampires since before Caroline had…_not died_? There were too many conflicting thoughts in his head and he tried to focus on the hunter in front of him.

"Over twenty people were turned in Barcelona two months ago, another thirty in Orleans, and more in Namur. You're building an army in Europe."

"It's not me," Klaus informed him with a growl, this was too much. No one was stupid enough to make that many vampires without them finding out…unless they _were_ an Original…_Elijah. _

_The vampires…Caroline…it was him._

An uncontrollable amount of anger coursed through his veins at the realization that his brother had somehow played a role in taking Caroline from him, in deceiving him so thoroughly and building an army behind his back.

Klaus suddenly stepped back and let go of the hunter who half-collapsed in the alleyway panting hard, trying to catch his breath. "Sorry I can't stay to continue this, but I'm due for a chat with my brother," Klaus smirked and flashed out of the alleyway.

* * *

Klaus dug the pieces of the hunter's stake out of his chest as he flashed home, dropping the splinters like a bloody bread trail to his home.

As the house came into his view, he thought about his pending discussion with Elijah and managed to arrive at the doorstep in seconds. He threw open the front doors, "ELIJAH!" he shouted, and walked into the foyer waiting for his traitorous brother.

"Yes Niklaus?" Elijah's voice called from the study.

Klaus wasted no time and flashed into the study where Elijah stood, closing his laptop.

The sight of his brother and knowing his crimes only fueled Klaus' anger. It was only a second after he laid on him before Elijah's throat was pinned underneath Klaus' hands against the dark green of the study wall.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? WHERE IS CAROLINE?" Klaus yelled in his brother's face.

Elijah opened his mouth to reply but Klaus picked his brother up and slammed him back into the wall, plaster cracking as he roared. "DO NOT LIE TO ME ELIJAH."

Elijah made no motion to speak and Klaus was sickened by the sight of his brother's face, by sharing the same space as him. He retreated across the room to distance himself from Elijah, letting him drop to his feet with a small thud.

Elijah remained silent for moment as he straightened the sleeves of his suit jacket. Then, he asked, "How did you find out?"

"Does it matter?" Klaus retorted, his eyes sliding back to his statuesque brother. Elijah said nothing and Klaus knew he wouldn't say anything until he told him how he found out. "A hunter told me," Klaus spat. "The same one who attacked me the other night, I presume."

"I'm sorry you had to find out like this," Elijah replied, hands clasped in front of his body.

Elijah's words stirred the anger that was starting to settle right back up. "SORRY I HAD TO FIND OUT LIKE THIS? WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?" Klaus roared stepping closer to Elijah, balling his hands into fists before they could inflict damage that would prevent him from finding his answers.

"I thought it would ensure her safety," Elijah answered, lifting his hand to rest it on Klaus' shoulder but Klaus roughly shoved his hand away. "After Leonel the hunter, I thought to take precautions…"

Klaus narrowed his eyes at the mention of the former member of the five, his body tensing at the memory of Caroline being kidnapped on her way to the restaurant during their trip to Atlanta.

_The sounds of Caroline's screams echoed through the deserted row of homes making Klaus immediately more terrified and furious. _

_He raced through the deserted street, his hearing focused on Caroline's moans and whimpers of pain until he reached the house where the sounds were the loudest. He barged through the rotting front door and easily found his way into the basement where Caroline was hung from the ceiling by her wrists by vervain-soaked ropes, her skin gone, displaying only the delicate white bone of her wrist. Her toes barely scraped the floor and he could only imagine the pain she was in from her position, the weight of her body hung on her wrists, arms and shoulders. She had to be exhausted. The multitude of blood stains that littered her body was disgusting, dried blood and dirt cloaked the top and jeans she had worn out that morning, making it impossible to discern the pattern from her top from the pattern of her blood. Caroline's hair was matted and streaked with blood and some black substance; her head hung low, worn out from the torture they had been inflicting upon her. _

"You know nothing," Klaus spat. "I saved her."

"Yes but you're also the reason why she was taken," Elijah reminded him.

Klaus grasped onto the back of the chair closest to him, his knuckles turning white and his nails tearing holes into the fabric. He hated being reminded that he was the reason that Caroline was always in danger, that the hunter purposefully took her because he wanted Klaus.

Elijah looked at him and managed to catch Klaus' stare, "I'm afraid you may have to do it again."

Klaus' eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What are you talking about Elijah?"

"Rebekah called just before you arrived. The spell Bonnie performed on Caroline….it appears to be weakening. Caroline has started to remember some of her past with you. She was quite angry with Stefan and staked him before she took off, to find you. She is alone, and with only some of her memories…Caroline is an easy target."

A feeling of terror set over Klaus' shoulders. Caroline was alone trying to find him. The hunters already knew who Caroline was…if they knew that she was looking for him, what would they do to her?

"She wouldn't be in danger if it weren't for you," Klaus accused his brother. "If anything happens to her I will shove the white oak stake into your heart myself, Elijah."

Elijah nodded his head, accepting Klaus' conditions, knowing he had earned them.

"I will deal with you later, I have to go find Caroline," Klaus said and sped out of their home.

* * *

**A/N**: Sorry I suck and took so long to update. If it weren't for the reviews asking me when this was being published it probably would have been longer, it was just such a pain to write.


End file.
